Knowing Leo
by mewsugarpudd
Summary: After the events of Learning about Leo and Mark of Athena, the goddess Hebe doesn't believe that Hera did her job well enough as the demigods still don't fully understand Leo. So she takes it into her own hands by splitting Leo into four past versions of himself. The seven (along with Nico and Hedge) have to deal with child and teen versions of their friends. And it won't be easy.
1. Chapter 1

Here is the main sequel to my story Learning about Leo (it's probably best to read that story first if you haven't already). It is set after Mark of Athena, however Annabeth and Percy are still on board. And to all of those who reviewed the final chapter of Learning about Leo , I will be posting replies on my profile, so thank you for all of the support and I hope that you enjoy this as well.

Disclaimer : I am but a simple peasant, playing in the realm of our God Rick Riordan.

* * *

Jason's P.O.V

Jason was relieved. Somehow, they had managed to the Athena Parthenos safely on board the Argo II, rescued Nico Di Angelo and now they were all slumped on the deck of their giant warship (or Leo's giant warship to put t nore accurately), panting heavily from their exertion.

They were all still a little bit in shock; after all, they had almost lost Annabeth to Tartarus. It was extremely lucky that Percy had noticed the thread attached to her ankle and cut it off before she had been dragged down into the pit with Arachne.

As he lay, trying to recover from everything that had just occurred, he noticed that Leo was still frantically darting about, checking on the ship obsessively.

He sat up, and when the younger boy next came close enough to grab, Jason pounced, wrapping the smaller teen in his arms and forcing him to sit on the deck.

"Leo, just relax for a minute." He instructed, but Leo shook his head and wormed his way out of Jason's grip.

"I'm going to go and check that the Parthenos is secure. It would be a real shame to go through all of that, just to lose the statue in this lovely countryside." Leo strode away, and Jason sighed sadly, running his hand through his shock of blonde hair. He flopped back to the deck, this time lying on his front.

After the whole memory watching experience, they had all felt closer to Leo than ever. But after everything that had happened recently, Leo had seemingly regressed into his workaholic shell.

"Why is it that he still won't listen to us?" Jason jumped at the soft sound of his girlfriend's voice. He flipped onto his back and she lay down next to him.

"Maybe we still don't understand him, even after we watched all of those memories."

The others all joined them, even Nico and Coach Hedge moved closer to the group. Only Leo who had gone below remained absent.

Nico looked incredibly confused, and Hedge was still convinced that they had all been playing a big joke on him.

"I agree that Hera did not fulfil her role correctly, and did not help you to truly understand your friend. You cannot understand someone after just watching their life, can you? My mother has admittedly helped you a little, but only by knowing someone in their youth, when their guards have not fully formed can you understand them truly. Or when their guards are different to what they are now."

Everyone leapt into action, already frazzled nerves forcing them into action.

A teen stood before them, her face seeming infinitely youthful despite the light make up that adorned it. Brown hair flowed down her back and it glowed with reddish tints in the sunlight. Her eyes shone with a childish sparkle, contrasting the serious look that otherwise rested upon her features.

Her eyes drifted to Jason, and she smiled.

"Hello, little brother." Jason realised who she was, the youthfulness combined with her calling him her brother was enough to spark Jason's memory of her myth.

"Lady Juventus." Jason bowed, and the other demigods followed his example. However the goddess frowned, and her form flickered.

"Do not speak that name to me. I am Hebe, goddess of youth."

"Lady Hebe, why are you here?" Obviously Percy was the only one suicidal enough to start questioning a Goddess. At least he had remembered some of his manners used the word "lady".

"I am here because my powers can help you understand your friend better." She waved one slender hand, and the demigods flinched, waiting for something to happen.

When nothing changed, they turned to the goddess.

"Good luck, demigods. Your task is difficult, but I am positive that you will learn more about your friend in this way." The goddess waved cheerfully, childishly, before vanishing back to Olympus.

"What do you think that she meant by that?" Hazel appeared incredibly nervous.

Those nerves seemed justified when a scream came from the lower decks.

Wordlessly, they raced downstairs, praying that Leo was okay.

What they saw was completely unprecedented, and Jason found himself just gaping in alarm.

Not one, but four Leos stood before him, each of a different age. Jason tried to deduce each age from the memories that they had watched previously.

Two were obviously child versions of their friend, whilst the other two were clearly teens. The children appeared to be six and eight, whilst the teens seemed to be fourteen and fifteen. Fourteen was dressed in gang clothes whilst Fifteen was wearing his favourite military jacket from the Wilderness school.

Six and Eight were currently balling their eyes out. Fourteen was staring at his doppelganger, Fifteen, and the children in horror. Fifteen looked completely overwhelmed, and then he turned to the demigods in the doorway.

"Jason! Piper!" His eyes lit up when he saw his friends, but the nervous air didn't dissipate as the other Leos were watching him with suspicion, the youngest two still sobbing.

"What's going on?" Fifteen questioned, eyes darting between the two people that he recognised.

"Yeah, where the hell am I." Fourteen bit out, eyes hostile and wary.

"That's a long explanation." Annabeth's tone was placating, but that made Fourteen appear angrier. Jason prayed that the impending explosion that he was expecting didn't happen.

"Make it shorter then." Fourteen demanded, and Jason stepped forwards, feeling that it was his duty to explain what was happening to the younger versions of his friend. If only he understood the situation completely himself.

"Long story short, we are all children of either a Greek or a Roman God." The Leos stared at him for a few moments, before the elder Leos burst out laughing and the younger two started crying again. Jason stared at them desperately.

"Pull the other one Jay, in fact, don't bother. Gods don't exist."

"If they don't exist, then how do you explain your fire?" Fifteen's mouth dropped open as Fourteen glared at Piper resentfully, and Eight's cries got even louder.

"Erm, how can that be possible." Fifteen was taking this a little better then the rest, and Jason hoped that maybe he could convince the others.

"The Gods followed western civilisation into America and they are now thriving in New York. In fact, the goddess of youth, Hebe, is the reason that you all are here." The Leos stared at each other doubtfully.

"That would explain why there is more then one me..." Fifteen trailed off, and Fourteen whirled on him angrily.

"Oh, of course. That makes so much sense." Fifteen shrugged at younger counterpart's anger, as if to say "it kinda does."

Frank sighed, stepping forwards. He mouthed "demonstration" to the currently... intact demigods. Jason nodded, hopefully a display of demigod power could convince the Leos.

Fourteen shifted into a slightly more defensive position when Frank moved closer, and Jason couldn't blame him. Frank must be pretty intimidating to people who don't know him.

The resident shape shifter smiled at the Leos disarmingly, before promptly turning into an armadillo.

The child Leos gazed at him in wonder as he transformed back into regular Frank, and Jason watched the argument play out in Fourteen's eyes. Fifteen looked as if Christmas had came early.

"Qué fue eso? (What was that?)" Six gasped, excitement overtaking his previous tears. All though Eight still looked sullen and sad, he too seemed more interested in the demigods.

Unfortunately, no one except Leo spoke Spanish.

Jason turned to Fifteen - the most cooperative Leo so far - pleadingly.

Fifteen bent down so that he was eye to eye with the child versions of himself.

"Sabes sobre magia, cuentos de hadas y mitología? (You know about magic, fairy tales and mythology?)" The kids nodded obediently at whatever Fifteen was saying, and Fourteen huffed.

"Una diosa ha lanzado un hechizo así que puedo conocer yo mismo. (A goddess has cast a spell so that I can meet myself.)" The children appeared to find this notion (or whatever Fifteen had said), very entertaining, though sadness still lingered on Eight's face.

"Idiotas! (idiots!)" Fourteen hissed, not appeased by any of the current explanations. His dark brown eyes locked on to Jason's as he tried to shove past the demigod group and into the hallway, but Percy prevented him from pushing out of the room.

"Wait, we'll explain more. But lets go to the dining room first, at least we'll all fit in there."

This was possibly one of the most awkward moments that Jason had experienced since he had discovered that he was a demigod. And he had seen Dakota on numerous Kool-Aid highs so that was saying something.

All of the demigods, Coach Hedge and all four Leos were currently seated around the dining room table.

Fifteen was in between the children and was keeping them restrained by holding their hands. Fourteen sat, body twisted slightly, ever the picture of a rebellious teen.

"So we are the son of Hephaestus, the Greek God of forges and fire. We are currently on a quest in which we encounter massive hordes of monsters, and our ultimate goal is to destroy the embodiment of the earth itself, Gaia." Fifteen raised an eyebrow.

"That pretty much sums it up." Annabeth looked distracted, and Jason was pretty certain that she was mentally running through options of how to fix this.

"And we're meant to believe all of this crap? That somehow, some goddess has managed to recreate past versions of myself just so that you can get to know me?" Fourteen seemed determined to remain angry and churlish.

"What's your explanation then?" Hazel sounded a little annoyed.

"Someone drugged me. It wouldn't surprise me if someone from the gang or from a different gang decided to take me out somehow. Hell, I could be in a coma right now if someone decided to attack me." Jason was sad as he remembered all of the scenes in which Leo had been forced into fighting either to defend himself or to defend someone else. Especially due to his involvement in gangs.

"Seriously, why would you think of this if you were in a coma? Isn't it more common to carry on as if you were fine?" Annabeth's logic earned a dark glare from Fourteen.

"Well, coma or not, we're here and we are apparently going to be staying here for a while, so what are we going to do?" Everyone glanced at each other worriedly then.

"Well, our version of Leo steers this boat and keeps it in top condition. After all, he did create it." All of the Leos (even the otherwise petulant Fourteen) grinned widely at that.

"I created this ship?" Fifteen stared around the dining room.

"Well we did design it." Eight spoke up for the first time. His eyes were red-rimmed, and Jason had the sinking feeling that this was Leo after his mom's death. And then he realised something else. Six didn't know about what happened to his mother. He would have to pull the older Leos aside and warn them about that.

Percy then pointed something else out.

"Didn't we need Leos tool belt for most basic repairs?"

"I don't have a tool belt." All of the Leos looked confused, and Percy shifted.

"I think we need to decide on what to call each of you, after all, we can't call you all Leo."

"But I am Leo." Six sounded hurt and a confused, and Percy hastily backtracked.

"Of course you are Leo, but the other three are also Leo." This only seemed to add to the confusion.

"I've just been calling them by their age in my head." Jason admitted. Most of the others confessed to doing the same thing.

"Well it's settled then. You can just call us by our age." Fifteen seemed oddly at ease with this, but Fourteen started complaining.

"I'm a person, not just a number!" He glowered at everyone.

"We know, but this is the easiest way to not mix you all up." Piper's tone was firm, but not unsympathetic. Fourteen remained glaring angrily for a few moments, before he huffed dramatically.

"But my mommy doesn't know where I am. She'll be worried." Six's voice was hesitant, and childish. Eight's face crumpled. A sad look crossed over Fifteen's face, and Fourteen scowled at the child.

"Well it doesn't matter because mom is de…"

"Definitely aware of the situation." Fifteen cut Fourteen off, with a heated glare. Eight wiped away his own tears, and smiled softly at six.

"Es magia. ¿Recuerdas? (It's magic. Remember?)"Jason was relieved that Eight and Fifteen were helping to protect Six from the truth. But he also had to fight down the urge to punch Fourteen who had almost spilled it. Jason had no clue as to why Fourteen would be willing to tell Six something so terrible, but he just had to hope that once Fourteen was over the initial shock of being displaced from time (or whatever was going on), he's stop being such a pain in the butt.

"So about this magic tool belt." Fourteen's eyes were demanding, and Jason shuddered at the thought of this resentful teenager possessing a powerful tool belt.

Suddenly, something dropped into his lap, and Jason looked down curiously. Leo's tool belt resided in his lap, a note perched on top of it.

Everyone was steering at him, and all four Leos had greedy looks on their faces.

He unfolded the note, and read it out clearly.

"P.S, I thought that you might need this. Signed Hebe." The Leos instantly started clamouring about why they should get the tool belt.

Jason knew instantly that Fifteen was the safest bet to gift this to. Fourteen was highly likely to build something that would get him off of the ship, and then they would have to track him down. Eight was depressed, and Jason had the feeling that he might try and escape as well. And Six was just too unpredictable, though Jason did find his reasoning to be adorable.

Sadly though, Jason couldn't give it to Six because he was cutest. He passed it over to Fifteen, carefully avoiding Fourteen's twitching fingers.

Fifteen smirked and knotted it around his waist.

"So what do we do now?"

* * *

So I hope that you enjoyed the chapter, and hopefully more will be up soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow, I'm really happy that you guys seem so excited about this. I am enjoying writing both sequels so much and I'm so glad to be writing for you again. Thank you for all of the faves and follows, and I hope that you enjoy this chapter.

DamnYouPeopleWithCoolUserNames : Yay, then I'm off to a good start. And I'm happy that you like the idea.

Kittehx1: I hope that I can duct tape you back together (I'll just have to *borrow* Leo's tool belt to get some).

JustALittleBroken : Woot! I'm glad to be the exception to your not liking sequels.

Our Mismatched Socks : And I'm so pleased that you're reading it!

ObsessedwReading: Thank you J

Melancholy's Sunshine : That does sound like something Nico would do. And you'll just have to wait and see whether or not Leo will remember it ;)

Nightcorelover297 : Thank you, and trust me, it's going to be a very complicated journey.

Cats : Yay, first chapter and already someone loves it.

Zoethezany III : Thanks, and I'm glad that you like the idea.

SIDDA : It's good to see you again, and I have replied to all of the reviews (your surprise included) from the last chapter of LAL on my profile J

Connwaer Heap : Thank you, I hope that it will be.

Guest : Thanks, and I think of both Divergent and the Lorien Legacies.

Cupcake Gal : Yes it is, the others really have their work cut out for them.

SeventhWheel : I'm honoured that you chose to review on this story instead of staying silent. I'm really happy that you enjoyed my previous story and that you are looking forwards to the sequels. You're very welcome, and thank you for reading it.

Disclaimer : Yeah, I wish that I could say that I owned HOO, but I don't.

* * *

Percy's P.O.V

Percy didn't know whether he should laugh or cry at the surrealism of the situation. Fifteen was staring at them all expectantly, waiting for them to direct him, to take control of the situation.

"Well, we can give you a tour around the ship if you want." Annabeth suggested. Fourteen rolled his eyes.

"I'll pass." Fifteen glared at him.

"Come on Fourteen, we need to know the layout of the ship if we're going to look after it." Fourteen swung back on his chair casually.

"Who says that I'm going to be helping out?" Percy was shocked at this Leo's behaviour. He was just so different from Fifteen when there was only a year between them. He knew from the videos that Leo had been very good at acting when he was younger, but this apathy appeared to be more than just an act.

Percy wasn't really sure how to deal with any of them. Fifteen seemed so willing to accept the situation and help out, but Percy knew from experience that this Leo was an expert in hiding his true emotions. Fourteen was just acting like a gigantic pain, as if everything they did was a personal offence. Eight was just miserable, and it was going to be hard trying to help the kid out. And Six just needed sheltering from his future personalities before they revealed something from the future that would ruin the kid.

"Fine then, we'll show the others around, and you can stay here." Piper sounded angry, and Percy wondered how weird it was for her to have Wilderness school Leo onboard.

Annabeth spun to Piper and raised an eyebrow.

"Is it wise to leave him of all the Leo's alone?" She obviously intended for this to be a whisper, but it came out clearly audible to everyone.

Fourteen huffed.

"I feel the love guys." He grumbled.

"I'll watch over him." Nico offered. Percy was really surprised at Nico suggesting this, but he went with it anyway.

"Okay then. It's Hazel, Frank and Jason's turn to take watch. That means that I, Piper and Annabeth can each take a Leo round." He then realised that he hadn't assigned Coach Hedge a role. The Coach shrugged.

"There's a wrestling special on round about now." He trotted off, and the Leo's noticed his goat legs.

"Coach Hedge is a satyr. The torso of a man, legs of a goat." Annabeth seemed to be enjoying imparting this information to the Leos, and Percy had to smile at his girlfriend's quirks.

"Anyway, who's taking which Leo?" Piper smirked at this.

"Bagsy Fifteen." She grabbed his arm and tugged him away. Six and Eight blinked up at Percy with childish eyes. He sighed.

"I'll take Eight." He volunteered. Annabeth shot him a grateful smile, and Percy was glad that he had offered to take the more troublesome child. He would soon regret that decision.

As soon as they had gotten out of Six's sight, Eight had burst into sobs, sinking to the floor and burying his head in his small hands.

Percy watched helplessly as his tiny charge wept on the floor. Sure, he had been able to comfort the normal Leo, but this Leo was just a kid. Even armed with the knowledge from watching Leo's memories, Percy still had no clue how to help Eight.

Something clicked within his head, and he realised with a jolt that this was what Hebe had meant.

Percy crouched down in front of the wailing boy, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

He was almost knocked over by a sobbing ball of tiny Leo Valdez. Eight's little tanned hands fisted in Percy's shirt as he wailed.

"Shh, it's okay." He soothed, but Eight didn't stop his tears.

"It's not okay! Mi madre es muerto! (my mom is dead!)" Percy didn't know Spanish, but he could make out what Leo was saying from the Spanish used in the memories.

"I know. But you're safe here. It's going to be okay. You'll be okay." Eight shook his head, and Percy sighed. He scooped the trembling body into his arms.

"Come on; let's get this tour over and done with."

Gradually, as Percy showed Eight around the ship, the little Latino began to cheer up. It was clear that the ship fascinated him, especially as his future self-had created it.

"What's wrong with Fourteen?" Percy did not expect that question, and he scrambled to think of an answer that would satisfy the child's curiosity.

"I'm not sure." Percy mentally facepalmed at his stupid answer. Eight fixed him with a look that said "seriously?", and Percy hastily amended his statement.

"I don't know for sure why he's acting the way he is, but Fourteen's been through a lot so we're going to have to cut him some slack." Eight hummed quietly in agreement, and Percy hoped that this meant that he was feeling better.

They reached the engine room, and Eight's eyes lit up.

"Wow, this is co cool!" He wiggled out of Percy's arms, and Percy blushed when he realised that he had held onto Eight for the entire tour so far. His big brother instincts were seriously kicking in, and Percy was really glad that he hadn't chosen to show Six around because his behaviour would have probably been really embarrassing if he was in charge of the littlest Leo.

As Percy contemplated his big brother instincts, Eight tore around the room, wide eyed and excited.

The kid inspected everything, and Percy wondered if all of the Leos would work together to maintain the ship, or if the task would be left up to the more responsible Fifteen.

Percy had shown Eight pretty much every part of the ship, only the deck was left. And then he remembered Festus. Eight was gonna freak when he saw the mechanical dragon head.

As they walked up to the deck, Percy wondered how the others were dealing with their Leos.

"Okay, when we get on deck you can't run about because I don't want to be scraping you off of the Italian countryside. Understood?" Eight nodded, and Percy took his hand just in case. Leo was a little imp at the age of Fifteen, Percy was not risking losing the kid over the edge of the boat.

He waved to the three on watch with his free hand. Frank was up in the crow's nest (Percy stifled a laugh at the fact that Frank had literally turned into a crow), while Jason and Hazel stood on the deck, Jason near the steering wheel and Hazel watching over the side of the boat.

Eight drank everything in with an awed expression.

Percy then had an idea.

"Jason, will you do me a favour?" Jason walked over, ruffling Eight's hair absentmindedly as he passed.

"Let me guess, you want me to fly Eight over to see Festus?" Percy was amazed at Jason's ability to guess what he wanted, and then he remembered that Annabeth had started her tour on the deck with Six and that she had probably had the same idea as him.

He nodded, and Jason bent down so that he was at eye level with Eight.

"Do you like heights?" Eight nodded enthusiastically, and Jason picked him up, and walked over to the edge.

"Hang on tight." Jason instructed, and Percy watched as the Son of Jupiter climbed onto the railing. It spoke a lot about the trusting nature of the youth, as Eight didn't even question the action.

Then, Jason let himself tumble into a free fall, arms tightly wrapped around Eight who shrieked slightly in shock.

Suddenly, they rocketed upwards, and Eight broke into peals of laughter as they swooped around the sky.

Percy made his way over to the front of the ship, leaning over to watch Eight's reaction to their bronze figure head.

Jason came to a gentle halt in front of the ship, hovering in the air as Eight reached out a small hand and placed it on the top of Festus' head.

The dragon snorted, tiny flickers of flames tickling the child's palm.

"Hola (Hello)." Eight patted Festus' head. Festus nuzzled up into the tiny palm, obviously recognising his friend despite the fact that he had been de aged.

Jason flew back up to the deck with a smile. Percy felt a little jealous of the way Eight clung to Jason, thanking him for helping him fly. Percy then shook his head, he was not going to get jealous of Eight being amazed by Jason's powers.

Eight turned to him and Hazel, eyes glowing.

"Do you guys have powers to?" Percy nodded, and then gestured for Hazel to demonstrate first, ladies first after all.

Hazel shifted nervously before she closed her eyes and concentrated hard. Jason's weapon (still in coin form) came flying out of his pocket, landing safely in her hands. Eight clapped in delight, and Percy stepped forwards.

He focused intently on the nearest source of water that was not situated on the boat, they really didn't need to deal with burst plumbing at the moment.

The familiar tug in his gut started up and Percy drew the water towards him, making it hover above his head, snaking around lazily in the air.

Eight clapped Percy as well, enthusiasm and wonder painted onto his face.

Then, suddenly, his eyes dropped and sadness took over the child.

"What's up buddy?" Percy hated seeing Eight so miserable. The boy's tear filled eyes tilted up to look at him.

"Mi fuego es peligroso (my fire is dangerous)."

"Erm, we don't know Spanish Eight." Eight looked to the side, as if ashamed.

"Mi fuego, my fire, is dangerous. Your powers are so cool, and mine are wicked." Percy gulped, it had been hard enough to get their Leo to confess that his powers weren't a complete curse, it would be near impossible to convince Eight that his powers were a gift, especially with the death of his mother so fresh in his mind.

Hazel rolled Jason's coin around her fingers for a few seconds, before handing it back and sitting cross legged on the floor in front of Eight.

"I used to think that my powers were a curse as well." She stated, and Percy marvelled at how Hazel was able to confess to such a painful thought to ease Eight's burden.

"You see, I can summon precious metals and gemstones with my powers." She smiled, but it held a sad quality.

"But these things come at a price. People who touch them, well, they suffer. And one person in particular, a dear friend of mine, suffered terribly. He took one of the jewels that I had summoned, hoping to afford a better life with it. But something happened, and I wasn't able to see him again. He blamed the jewel, and he was probably right to. But my powers have also helped to protect my friends, and I can no longer call them a curse. Your powers have saved us many times as well, even if you don't remember it." Percy knew that Hazel had been deliberately vague with the identity of this mysterious "friend" in case Eight asked more about Sammy.

Eight seemed to consider this, and Percy prayed to any God who might possibly be defying Zeus and keeping an eye on their quest that he would accept that his powers weren't a terrible curse.

Percy's prayers were cut off by shouting and crashing from below deck.

He exchanged meaningful looks with the elder demigods, signalling that Hazel and Frank should say on look out.

He swept Eight into his arms before he and Jason sprinted towards the source of the commotion.

Jason kicked open the dining room door to reveal Fourteen being restrained by skeleton soldiers.

Fourteen was practically foaming at the mouth in rage as he wiggled furiously, attempting to break the skeletal arms that bound him.

Nico's eyes drifted to them, and in that brief lapse of concentration, Fourteen almost managed to shake of the skeletons. Their grip tightened when Fourteen almost slipped away, raising him off of the ground. Fourteen's eyes were coming panicked and fearful. Percy instantly called to Nico to let him go. Eight was whimpering at the sight of the skeletons.

Nico waved his hand and the dead servants dropped Leo, who hit the ground running.

Jason reacted quickly, tackling the younger demigod to the ground, spinning him round and forcing him to the floor, arms clenched behind him. Jason sat on his lower back, using just enough pressure to keep Fourteen down, but not enough to crush the skinny boy.

"What in the name of Hades is going on here?" Annabeth called from the doorway, toting Six. Piper was behind her, a wary looking Fifteen observing the scene beside her.

Nico was glaring malevolently at Fourteen who was still pinned to the ground. In fact, Fourteen had stopped struggling altogether, and Percy watched as Jason stood up, pulling Fourteen with him.

Fourteen who was now gasping for breath, caught in the clutches of an all too familiar panic attack...

* * *

I'm going to mention what the others were up to during their tours later in the story, but for now enjoy adorable Eight and a naughty Fourteen who somehow managed to draw Nico's wrath. See you next time.


	3. Chapter 3

Oh no! Fourteen is having a panic attack! Whatever will our intrepid demigods do next? Hehe, you'll just have to read and find out. Thank you for all of the faves and follows.

Zoethezany III : Thanks, and you are very welcome for the update :)

Killua minamoto : I'm glad that you like the younger Leos. And both sequels are going to multichapters, and they will both probably be quite long.

CushySocks213 : Thank you, and I will be writing more.

Melancholy's Sunshine : Yep, Nico definitely needs some advice on dealing with temperamental younger brothers. And that would be one weird conversation.

Bearah cubecars ; I suppose we've got to cut him some slack, he only recently left Tartarus after all.

Sidda : Thank you my fellow demigod.

Cupcake Gal : Teehee, you'll just have to wait and see when they explain what happened.

Readingaddict24 : Thanks, and I hope that this is soon enough.

Guest : Is this soon enough?

Connwaer Heap : Yup, Eight is adorable, and I love writing cliffhangers so here will be plenty in this story.

Cats : Maybeeeeee ;)

1HoWillSayUnkown : Thank you, and I'll try my best to keep up the good work.

Our Mismatched Socks : Thank you, and I didn't think that I'd find anyone pitying Fourteen at the moment, it's an interesting reaction :)

Epiphany Aria Grace I'll take it that you don't appreciate the cliffhanger then :) And I'm glad that you're enjoying it so far.

Ben123456123 : Here you go :)

Disclaimer : If Leo was de-aged at any point in HOO then I could claim it as my own. As he wasn't, I cannot claim it.

* * *

Annabeth's P.O.V

Annabeth was about to lunge forwards to try and help Fourteen, but Fifteen raced past her.

Her tour had been going so well, Six had been incredibly well behaved and his fascination with the ship was endearing.

But then she had heard a commotion coming from the dining room, and she had sprinted towards it, absentmindedly dragging Six along.

Piper had appeared behind her, and Fifteen was following.

Annabeth had burst into the room in time to see Jason physically restraining Fourteen on the floor. Nico was death glaring the Latino, with two skeletal guards at his shoulders. It was clear that some altercation had taken place, forcing Nico to summon two of his servants, but Annabeth couldn't help asking what was going on.

Jason had hauled Fourteen up, and to their immense horror, Fourteen had been in the midst of a panic attack.

Now Fourteen was shuddering in Fifteens arms, face pinched as he tried to grasp onto an elusive breath.

Annabeth stepped forwards, ready to offer her help as she had calmed down their Leo during the memory viewing. But before she could make it any further, Fifteen flung out an arm.

"Deal with the kids, I've got this." At this command, Annabeth glanced at the squirming child who was still in her grasp.

Six was crying softly, and Percy was having similar problems with Eight. Both children were switching between staring worriedly at their older counterparts and glancing in terror at Nico's skeletons.

"Nico!" Annabeth snapped. She didn't mean to sound so rude, but they had three Leo's to deal with and only one Leo who was functioning fine.

Nico seemed momentarily confused, but when he spotted the Leo's fright he flushed slightly, before waving his hand and sending them away.

Now the youngest Leos were focussed on the other two. Fourteen was still choking in Fifteen's arms however he had seemed to calm down a little bit.

"You good?" Fifteen muttered in his ear, and Annabeth observed as Fourteen suddenly hauled himself out of Fifteen's grasp.

"Leave me alone!" His voice was raspy from his struggle to intake oxygen, but his words still harboured resentment as he threw Nico a vicious glare before storming out of the room.

Annabeth would have stopped him but her duty was to take care of Six. A similar conflict played out in the eyes of her boyfriend as he tried to calm Eight down.

Piper and Jason reached out in unison, but Jason wasn't close enough and Fourteen just blazed past Piper's outstretched hand.

Fifteen sighed, rocking back on his heels and running a hand through his hair agitatedly.

"I'll fetch him." Fifteen's voice was weary as he trudged off after Fourteen.

Now that the skeletons were gone and Fourteen appeared to be okay, Six stopped crying though his whimpers still occasionally escaped into the room.

Eight was cuddled into Percy's chest, hiccuping softly from the aftermath of his sobs.

Annabeth shook her head as she surveyed this scene.

"What happened?" She directed this question towards Nico, her tone tired. they had had the four Leos onboard for less than a day and she was already at her wits end with them. Well, that wasn't exactly fair, Eight and Six were sweethearts Fifteen had been really helpful, really it was just Fourteen who was exasperating her. Why did he have to pull this stupid act, as if he didn't need any help after having a full blown panic attack.

Nico sent a cautious glance towards Jason and Piper, and it clicked that Nico didn't really know or trust them. He would probably be more comfortable if it was just her and Percy.

She subtly tried to transfer this message to Piper with a series of facial expressions and eyebrow wiggling.

Luckily, Piper caught on and retreated, promising that she would find out Fourteen's side of the story. She gently took Six from Annabeth whilst Jason took Eight from Percy.

They both left, and Annabeth heard Jason requesting that the Leos come up on deck with him whilst Piper hunted for the teen Leos.

Once they were out of earshot, Annabeth and Percy whirled on Nico.

Annabeth took the time to appraise his status.

He still looked truly awful, and Annabeth felt guilty over the fact that they had left him alone with the most petulant Leo when he hadn't recovered from his experience in Tartarus, even if he had volunteered.

They waited as patiently as two ADHD demigods could for Nico to explain what had occurred.

"He said that I looked like I'd been through hell." That small, simple statement caused both Annabeth and Percy to wince.

Nico grimaced as well.

"So I said that I had. He snorted." Annabeth felt a mounting sense of dread.

"He then declared that I had no idea what true horror was and I told him that I really did. He laughed again and said that he had seen things that would make me run away screaming. I told him that I had things that would make him go run crying home to his mother." Percy and Annabeth flinched again. Nico gazed at them sadly.

"That was a bad thing to say wasn't it?" They both nodded, but gestured for him to continue anyway.

"He got really angry then and said that we should all just leave him alone as we don't have a clue what he's been through. I told him that whatever he's been through doesn't excuse him acting like an insolent brat and that surely he was raised better then that. That was when he attacked me." Annabeth felt another flinch forced out of her by these words.

"His mom's dead Nico. Only Six doesn't know this" Percy said this in a controlled voice, clearly he could see that both boys were to blame even if Fourteen had been the one to provoke him first.

Nico appeared even more closed off after Percy told him that.

"I'm sorry," he muttered "I shouldn't have assumed..." He trailed off, and Annabeth could sense the guilt that he was feeling.

"You should tell him that. Though he owes you an apology too." Nico nodded an stood up.

"I'll go see if I can find him." He mumbled before shuffling off.

Annabeth turned to Percy who instantly wrapped her up in a hug.

"Why does Fourteen insist on being so stubborn?" Percy shrugged as he held her.

"I don't know Wise girl."

Piper's P.O.V

Pipe stared in disbelief as Fourteen faced away from her.

Instinctively, he had sought out the engine room and he was currently seated on the cot that had been left in there, scribbling on a pad that he had found lying around and facing the wall stubbornly.

Fifteen was pleading with him to try and get him to confess to what had just happened, but Fourteen was merrily ignoring him.

It infuriated Piper to watch this bratty version of her friend ignoring Fifteen after Fifteen had just saved him from his panic attack.

"Fourteen." Her voice was hard, but Fourteen didn't react at all.

Fifteen shifted his attention from Fourteen to Piper. Before he could say anything, Piper gripped his wrist and dragged him into the hallway.

They had been having a pretty decent conversation before all of this commotion had kicked off, and Piper found herself immensely grateful to Hebe for at least letting them have one Leo who knew them.

"Seriously, what is wrong with him?" Her stern voice caused Fifteen to stare at her soulfully, but he refused to provide any explanation for Fourteen's irrational behaviour.

"Come on Fifteen, you've been really helpful so far so why can't you just tell me what's up with him?" She wheedled. Fifteen watched her balefully.

"I can't." He uttered simply, and Piper felt her fists curl in frustration.

"Fine." She ground out, before storming back into the engine room.

Fourteen was now lying on his back (still drawing) yet he didn't acknowledge Piper's entrance at all. Fifteen also went unacknowledged.

Piper had had enough.

She marched over to Fourteen and plucked the pad out of his hands. That got a reaction, even though it was only a raised eyebrow.

"What happened with Nico?" She demanded, but then she realised that she had subconsciously filtered

a little bit of charmspeak into her voice when Fourteen virtually snapped to attention.

Fifteen gave her a suspicious once over as he words came pouring out of Fourteen.

She mentally groaned, she hated using charmspeak (especially on friends) but Fourteen's stubbornness had driven her subconscious to trigger her powers. Now Fifteen - the only Leo who was even somewhat stable - was wary of her.

"I said that he looked like he'd been to hell, he said that he had, I laughed and said that he didn't understand true horror, he said that he really did, I said that I'd seen things that would make him scream, he said that what he'd seen would make me run to mommy." The words all joined together in a mess that Piper almost couldn't understand, but both her and Fifteen caught the last line loud and clear, causing Fifteen's eyes to become shielded and Piper to feel a little sick.

She knew that Nico probably hadn't done that on purpose, he most likely had no clue about Leo's mother, but those words were most definitely a trigger for Fourteen's temper. He was lucky that he didn't say it around Eight or he probably never would have calmed down.

"I told him that you should all leave me alone as you don't understand what I've been through and he said that I still had no right to act like a brat and that I probably hadn't been raised like that. So I went to punch him when he summoned freaking skeletons and set them on me like they were common house pets!" He gasped a little after this spiel, and Piper prayed that she hadn't strained his already difficult breathing by forcing him to confess, even if she hadn't intended to use her powers to do so.

His eyes turned hard with fury.

"What the hell was that?" He spat venomously, and Piper shivered at the undertone of fear.

"My power. I can force people to do things with my voice." Piper felt shame creep through her at the look of disgust that Fourteen through her way. Fifteen looked introspective.

"So that's how you stole that BMW..." He mused and Fourteen shot him an incredulous glare.

"So you can use me like a puppet?" The levels of horror in Fourteen's voice made Piper sick and ashamed for her stupid powers. Fourteen was never going to trust her now.

And then Fifteen's eyes fixed on hers.

"I trust her." The honesty in these words stole Piper's breath and made her feel hopeful.

"Then you're just as insane as I thought." Fourteen's words were biting as he stood up, and strode away.

"Nico has actually been through hell." Fourteen's cold eyes turned to drill into her. She remained steady though.

"He's been through Tartarus, home of the monsters that haunt every demigod." Fourteen's gaze turned momentarily sympathetic before his eyes turned sharp again.

"Whatever." He tossed this word carelessly over his shoulder and left the engine room. Fifteen picked up the pad that Piper had discarded whilst talking to Fourteen.

His eyes widened in alarm and he tucked the pad under his arm.

Piper questioned him with her eyes, but he shook his head resolutely.

She sighed. Even the most cooperative Leo was difficult to deal with. Temptation filled her, the temptation to snatch the dam pad away from Fifteen and see for herself what exactly was bothering Fifteen, but she decided that enough damage had been done for today. She didn't need another Leo annoyed with her.

"Come on." She gestured to the door, and Fifteen followed her into the corridor.

They made their way into the hallway and idly strolled down it, both lost in thought.

On their way they passed Nico, who scanned Fifteen for a second.

Fifteen shook his head and pointed in the direction that he assumed Fourteen had headed off in.

"He's probably gone that way." Nico smiled gratefully and continued off in that direction. Piper curiously ambled beside Fifteen, but the question eventually burst out of him.

"Aren't you mad at Nico?" Fifteen sighed and placed his hands behind his head as he walked.

"No. Fourteen instigated the fight, and I'm pretty sure that Nico didn't know about my mother. Plus, Fourteen has been worse than the kids and he deserves to be put in his place." Piper thought deeply about that.

"You aren't normally so mature." She stated. Fifteen chuckled.

"The situation doesn't usually call for it. Anyway, I'm sure they'll be fine soon." Suddenly, Piper remembered that she had something else to ask Fifteen.

"Why did Fourteen panic anyway?" Fifteen started laughing wildly, as if she was asking the stupidest question that he had ever heard. She felt a little indignant as she waited for him to sober up.

"We don't like being restrained. And he was being restrained by skeletons, that's something straight out of a nightmare." And now Piper did feel stupid.

"Oh." She squeaked, and Leo smiled at her.

"Don't worry about it Beauty Queen." And with that last line, they reached the deck, just in time to see Six perched on Jason's back as they hovered in the air, and Eight sitting astride a Pegasus that Piper assumed to be Frank.

Both of the kids were hysterically laughing and cheering. Hazel was watching fondly, though she kept an eye out for monsters all the same.

Fifteen stood for a moment, as if drinking in this sight. His eyes were wistful for the briefest second, making Piper question whether or not she had actually seen the expression, but then he was calling up to Jason.

"Wow, you really are a regular superman aren't you Jay?" His tone was playful, and Jason flew down to the deck, softly depositing a giggling Six.

Jason leapt forwards suddenly and plunged into the air, tugging Fifteen with him.

Fifteen yelped, and then let out a shriek as he noticed how high they were.

Piper noticed Jason grin down at Fifteen, hauling him up so that he had a more secure hold on their friend. His arms were under Fifteen's armpits and Leo's legs dangled slightly.

"Don't let go Jason." Fifteen shouted in his best girl voice, and Piper laughed as she simultaneously caught the reference and remembered Leo's stint as Lea.

Jason swooped around with Fifteen, and Piper felt a smile grace her own face as Fifteen gradually stopped looking frightened and started looking amazed.

Her chain of thought was interrupted by Six tugging on her pants excitedly.

She bent down and easily lifted up the boy.

"Hey sweetie." She crooned, and Six snickered as Frank dropped Eight to the ground gently.

"This is fun." He enthused, and Piper hugged the adorable child closer as Eight stumbled over on wobbly legs.

Frank had reverted back to his regular human form and he was now speaking to Hazel.

Piper felt serene, but then reality crashed down on her as she realised that Nico still had to make up with Fourteen and that they still had to figure out how to adjust Fourteen's attitude.

And that was not going to be an easy task.

* * *

Well, most of the demigods now know what happened, and Nico is ready to try and make peace with Fourteen. I'll see you all next time.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm so sorry that this is late! I have no real excuse, I was stupid and got caught up in other stuff. I hope that you don't all hate me too much for the delay. Well, anyway, Nico is off to try and make friends with Fourteen. He's going to have some fun trying to manage that. And the demigods need to make some more permanent arrangements to look after the Leos. And I'm sticking with the same TSATF reasoning, Le built some guest bedrooms but as an after thought.

Kittehx1: Fourteen is acting like a douche… but does he have a reason? Muahahaha.

B.E by Erin : Sure, you'll get more backstory on all of them throughout.

Our Mismatched Socks : Thanks, and I love bittersweet moments.

Killua minamoto : Wow, I like those ideas. I'll have all of them in the story at some point. And I'm glad that you like my idea of a sequel.

Neon Wish Loves Peach Trees : Leo's sass is uncontrollable :)

Cats : I'll hopefully be updating this every Wednesday or Thursday. And I'm not too sure how many chapters this will have yet.

Melancholy's Sunshine : Can you just imagine Hades and Hephaestus staring down at them proudly and discussing whose tattoo is better?

IraTamashi99AmyliaZanpakuto : I'm so glad that you like the idea of this sequel and that you are looking forwards to the next chapter.

ObsessedwReading: Thank you and they had that argument and then Leo went to attack him.

Zoethezany III : Teehee, I'm glad that you caught that reference. I'm glad that you liked it. And it wasn't entirely his fault.

Connwaer Heap : A dam picture, that's what ;)

Nightcorelover297 : I'm happy that it is clear what happened now. And we'll just have to hope that Fourteen realises that he was wrong as well.

Sidda : Just write anything you want, even if it feels unoriginal then you can change elements once you've gotten it written down. And no story is boring; there will always be someone who will enjoy it. And they both are responsible for the fight.

Hio127 : Sure, and I was planning the bonding moments anyway.

Epiphany Aria Grace : Thank you, it's really difficult to have them all be the same person but at different stages so thanks for saying that I'm doing a good job with it.

Readingaddict24 : Thanks, and I hope this isn't too late.

Kris Awesomeness : He really doesn't get a break, especially when I'm writing him. And I will be continuing this no matter what so don't worry.

ObsessedwReading : Thank you :)

Guest : July the 8th is my sister's birthday! 10. So do I. 9. I've never actually seen it but my friend loves it. 8. I wish my family had a sword. 7. I hope that you still get to see him often. 6. Same. 5. Aren't keyboards always? 4. My fave is golden Freddy. 3. There are some brilliant FNAF songs out there. 2. My fave is Robin and I despise TTG. 1. And I'm glad to call you a friend.

The funky she-wolf 33415 : Oh, well, I hope that you start to enjoy the premise. I'm glad that you find it interesting though I'm sorry if you don't like the premise.

Skyfir3S4kur4 : Thanks, and we all need more Leo :)

Disclaimer : I do not own HOH. It is sad but true.

* * *

Nico's P.O.V

Nico wandered down the hall, searching for Fourteen.

His feet dragged though as he tried to get his thoughts together. Fourteen had clearly been out of line but even though Nico hadn't known about his mother and Fourteen had been the instigator, Nico was still at fault too.

He was reluctant to find the boy, however, as he wasn't exactly the best at social interactions.

Finally, Nico located the most temperamental Leo. He was in the stables, staring at the huge statue of Athena in shock and awe.

"Fourteen." Said boy flinched, whirling around to glare at him.

"What do you want?" His eyes were hard, but Nico could spot the slightest hints of sympathy within them. Clearly Fourteen had been told about Nico's actual stint in Tartarus.

Nico took a steadying breath.

"I came to apologise." Fourteen's eyes widened in shock, and a little bit of their frostiness melted away.

"I shouldn't have said that about your mother, and I shouldn't have used my powers against you when you didn't know about them." Nico warily appraised Fourteen, praying that he would at least call a truce.

"I'm sorry as well." Nico started.

"I didn't know about the whole Tartarus thing, but I was out of line as well." Nico couldn't believe that the Latino, who had been so stubborn and obstinate, was saying sorry to him.

Fourteen, apparently noticing Nico's shock, scowled.

"An apology from me is a one time thing, don't expect another." Nico rolled his eyes as Fourteen went back to assessing the Parthenos.

"Why are you acting like this?" Nico hoped that this question wouldn't spark another fight.

"None of your business." Fourteen's voice was haughty as he turned and flounced out of the stables. But instead of just walking away, Fourteen turned and stood in the doorway.

"I'm heading up top." This statement was deceptively casual, but even Nico in all his social awkwardness could recognise that Fourteen was extending an olive branch of some sort.

It wasn't a great improvement, but Nico decided that handling Fourteen was going to be a series of short steps, if Nico jumped too far then he could destroy any progress that he did make.

Nico joined the other boy as they headed for the deck. They were joined by Percy and Annabeth a few minutes later. The couple (Nico felt a little sick from having to describe the two as a couple) obviously gauged the mood, smiling happily when they realised that the argument had at least been cleared up.

They all made their way to where the rest of the demigods were playing around.

Jason was swooping around with Fifteen tightly enveloped in his arms. Hazel was sitting with Piper and Six, playing mildly complicated slap games that involved chanting things like "my name is high low jack a low" whilst making odd motions with your hands.

And Eight was having a wonderful time in the air on a Pegasus(assumedly Frank).

"Seriously Eight, stop horsing around." It was as if all commotion stopped as everyone turned in astonishment to Fourteen who was clasping a hand over his mouth in horror. Clearly he hadn't meant to say the joke out loud.

Life came back to the deck as Fifteen began howling with laughter, almost causing Jason to drop him due to his shaking shoulders.

Jason landed, letting go of Fifteen and beginning to chuckle himself. Gradually, everyone except Fourteen were laughing outrageously at just how terrible that pun had been. Even Frank had returned to normal so that he could laugh without dropping Eight.

Contrasting this, Fourteen's face was becoming more and more encased in shadow as his head tipped further in further down, as if causing others to laugh upset him deeply.

They all calmed down eventually, and Annabeth went into deep thought.

"Where are the Leos all going to sleep?"

"There are guest bedrooms next to mine." Nico pointed out. Fifteen seemed to consider this.

"Six and Eight can share my bedroom and me and Fourteen can each take a guest bedroom." Everyone nodded at this, though Fourteen's face remained stone-like.

"What about clothes? Fifteen and Fourteen can just wear normal Leo's clothes, but we have nothing that will fit the kids." Piper pointed out.

Annabeth walked over to the wheel and checked their location.

"In a couple of hours we'll be over a city, we can but some clothes for the Leos there and stock up on any other supplies that we're short of." Annabeth said this as if it was an executive order and no one dared to speak against it. Except their resident troublemaker of course.

"I want to go as well." Fourteen's voice broached no argument, but none of the demigods were willing to unleash him upon some unsuspecting city.

"I promise to stick with whoever you dump me on." His eyes turned pleading, and Nico was terrified to realise that the puppy dog eyes wouldn't get less effective with age.

"As a daughter of Aphrodite, I can instantly know all of their sizes. They can stay on the ship while we get the materials." Piper suggested.

"Who'll watch over them?" Percy inquired, and suddenly their were four pairs of puppy dog eyes locked onto them.

All four Leos began begging for them to take them on an adventure with them. The other demigods debated the merits of trying to keep an eye on the Leos whilst attempting to shop, their volume rising drastically as the Leos also increased their pleas by a few decibels.

The clamouring and noise eventually got to be too much for Nico, and he promptly chose to make his annoyance known.

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" Nico wouldn't usually be that blunt, and he wouldn't usually draw this much attention to himself willingly, but they were all giving him a migraine.

"I'll stay and guard the ship with Coach Hedge. Hazel and Frank will take Eight. Percy and Annabeth will take Six. Jason and Piper will take the teens. Sorted." Silence fell across the deck as everybody gaped at Nico as if had just done something marvellous instead of just giving them a solution to their problem.

"That's... that's actually a good plan." Nico was sort of offended that Annabeth sounded so amazed by the fact that Nico had came up with a decent idea.

Once everyone agreed to the plan, Nico went to find Coach to inform him about their new status as guard dogs.

Nico knew that he'd have his work cut out for him, preventing Coach Hedge from destroying everything.

Piper's P.O.V

As Nico went to fetch the Coach, Fifteen dragged Fourteen away to give him a brief tour seeing as Fourteen had refused before. Eight and Six tagged along. Fourteen was strangely meek compared to his feisty temper from earlier and Piper didn't know whether or not this should worry her. She did silently vow to locate the picture that he had been drawing earlier.

Everyone else convened in the dining room to discuss the outing.

"Fifteen should help you guys to keep an eye on Fourteen, but Piper can always use her charmspeak in case of emergency." Percy spoke confidently, and Piper suppressed the pain that she got from remembering her accidental use of charmspeak against Fourteen. She swore to only use her power if absolutely necessary.

"Should we give them some money so that they can buy themselves something if they want to?" Hazel's meek voice gave Piper a lot to consider.

On one hand, giving a potential runaway (Fourteen) money was probably not the best idea, but on the other hand, a sign of trust like that might help to deconstruct some of his barriers and the other Leos would probably appreciate it.

"I think we should." Jason's tone reflected the thought that he had put into the decision, and they all came to a joint decision that the Leos should be allowed to buy themselves a treat.

Frank brought up the dreaded question.

"What are we going to do if Fourteen keeps this up?" Piper honestly had no clue. Whatever Fourteen was going through, Leo had been over it when Piper had met him. She cast her mind back to the memories, but even then she couldn't find a solid reason for this standoffish behaviour. And then another question came to mind.

"Is he still a member of Beast's gang by this point?" They all stiffened.

"If he is then it might explain some of this." Annabeth seemed to be mulling over the issue.

"Well, if we ask him outright then he'll probably just get even more prickly. Jason, Piper, while you are out with him, see if you can glean more information from him about the subject without tipping him off." Both Piper and her boyfriend nodded to confirm that they would undertake this task.

Then, Annabeth checked her watch and stood up.

"We should head to the deck to meet up with the Leos." She advised and they all shuffled off.

The Leos were huddled together, yet Fourteen was still turned slightly away from the group.

"Alright guys, it's time to go." The Leos broke out of their little circle and moved over to their assigned chaperones. Piper was ashamed to admit that she was a little envious of Hazel and Frank as Six bounded over to them, lacing their hands together and pulling them away delightedly. She was even slightly jealous of Percy and Annabeth as Eight also seemed to be quite chipper at the moment, gleefully dragging them into the city.

She turned her gaze to Fourteen who mooched over morosely. Well, at least they had Fifteen who was at least somewhat familiar.

Jason's hand slipped comfortingly into her's, and she couldn't help but smile.

They followed their friends' example and headed into the city, keeping a watchful eye on Fourteen.

As Fifteen and Fourteen didn't technically need to buy clothes - they were going to pick them up some extras just in case - their group had been tasked with locating most of the mundane supplies, as well as some materials to help patch up the ship.

On their tour, Fifteen had agreed to maintain the ship, and Piper knew that the little ones would probably pitch in as well at some point.

Neither Leo had acted up yet, and no monsters had attacked. Piper was relieved that this wasn't as difficult as she had thought it would be.

And then Murphy's law kicked in.

She had just exited a shop with Jason after spending a little longer then she would have like in the establishment, only to find both Leos gone. She had been relying on Fifteen to watch over Fourteen, but evidently he had either failed that task epically or he had mutinied and had aided Fourteen in this great escape.

Frantic eyes met her own worried gaze as the situation hit Jason as well. He cursed under his breath in Latin while Piper did the same in Greek. They whirled around, intent on finding the Leos. And when they did find them, the boys would be getting a lecture like no other.

They scoured the nearby area but they couldn't find even a hint that the two had passed through here. Piper was alternating between absolute anger and paralysing fear. If they lost the Leo they could get seriously injured, maybe even killed and Piper couldn't handle that.

It was then that she heard the familiar voice of the fiery Latino.

She stomped towards the alley from which the voice had originated, Jason hot on her heels.

What she saw made her freeze.

Fourteen was handing hot pastries to a group of homeless kids while Fifteen passed out basic but warm clothing.

All of the pocket money that they had been given had clearly been pooled together to provide these kids with some food and shelter from the elements.

Tears welled in Piper's eyes at the sheer selflessness of the act. She would never have expected that Fourteen would do something like this.

Jason beside her actually dropped one of his shopping bags in amazement.

This sound alerted the Leos to their presence, and their heads whipped guiltily towards Jason and herself.

She could see the unspoken apology in Fifteen's eyes for running off, but his actions outweighed any need for an apology.

Piper found herself compelled to tug both teen Leos into a hug.

"You guys are extraordinary." She murmured before handing the kids as much money as she could afford to give them right now. They all said their farewells to the children who were crying with joy, and Piper was moved by the sight.

Even more so when she spotted the respect in Fourteen's eyes when he glanced at her.

His eyes also held compassion for the kids and a sense of contentment for helping them out. And Piper was overjoyed to see such emotion in Fourteen who had been acting so cold and heartless.

It gave her hope that maybe they could figure out what was wrong with him, that they could help him out.

That he wasn't doomed to be miserable and cranky.

* * *

I hope that was worth the slight weight and I swear that I'll try to be more punctual from now on. I'll see you all next time, bye :)


	5. Chapter 5

Hello everybody :) As last chapter was so late, you'll be getting two updates this week, one today and one at the weekend. I hope that this makes up for my tardiness.

Connwaer Heap : Thank you and no, at this point no one knows about Nico being gay.

Kittehx1 : They are really good aren't they :)

LunarFanGoddess : Thank you and I'm glad that you are excited.

Sidda : What a coinky dink ;) And I love quite a few of Fall Out Boy's songs and my sister is obsessed with Creepypasta so I recognise all of them. I quite like Ben Drowned and a lot of the Pokemon ones are good. "Now I suffer the curse and now I am blind." That's one of my favourite FNAF songs! (Mandopony and Smike are also good). And I gorgot to say this last time, but happy birthday :)

Gavroche Is Life Itself : Thank you :)

Kris Awesomeness : Fourteen is really fun to write. And Nico will certainly try his best to help him out.

Skyfir3S4kur4 : Well I'll reply to you both separately then. I'm happy that you love it and I hope that you like this chapter as well.

Ira-chan : I'm glad that it turned out cute, I really wanted to show off Fourteen's sweeter side.

Melancholy's Sunshine : Teehee, that imagery is hilarious. And I'll have to consider that idea, there will be monsters coming into this story (it wouldn't be a PJO fic without them) but I hadn't considered the fact that all of the Leos have seen a cyclops.

Catsrawesome : I've actually done two... sorry! I'm glad that you are enjoying it though and I'll try to keep it up.

Matt : Thanks :)

Readingaddict24 : The Leos just couldn't leave poor, innocent street kids to suffer as they know exactly how hard it is to survive on the streets.

Lord of Potatoes : Wow, thank you so much! I don't think that I could ever beat Uncle Rick, but I would love to become an author.

Bearah cubecars : Everyone seems to love Fourteen and I thought that you all wouldn't like him. I'm glad that you liked the joke, it made me giggle shamelessly.

Zoethezany III : Good guess, but you'll just have to wait and see if your theory is right.

Killua minamoto : You're very welcome, and I really enjoyed writing that scene. And your guess is partially true but it is a little bit more complicated than that :)

69Philyra69 : Ooh, that sounds like fun to write, I probably will do something like that in the future, thank you. And do you want me to call you Lyra from now on instead of your full username?

Zero : I suppose you just have to look at it from different perspectives. I suppose in some chapters that he is unreasonable, but at other times I think he is just a grief stricken kid who is ashamed to be who he is both because he is scared that his sexuality will be frowned upon but also because of the prejudices held against his father.

Cecld16 : I'm glad to have you reading the story :)

Our Mismatched Socks : Thanks, and yep, every form of Leo is amazing.

Notreallyonhere : Thank you, and I will be writing a lot more so don't worry. I'm happy that you think I'm a good writer and that you are enjoying the story.

Disclaimer : This confession hurts every time, but Leo Valdez and the rest of his universe are not actually my property.

* * *

Jason's P.O.V

After the scare of losing the teen Leos, Jason was keeping a much closer on both of the boys. What they had been doing was noble but Jason was still having a hard time suppressing his earlier panic.

Fourteen and Fifteen were being great though. Since they had given those poor kids as much money as they could, Fourteen had been looking at them with a certain degree of respect. Jason wasn't sure if that would be enough to keep Fourteen in line for this entire experience, but at least it meant that he was more likely to listen to them in the future.

At the moment the teens were choosing some clothes, and it amused Jason to see how their tastes were wildly different. Fourteen was going for luminous fishnet, short sleeved shirts along with a lot of black tight fitting clothes. Fifteen was going for plain shirts and suspenders as well as some ironic graphic tees.

Piper was darting around and picking up clothes that she thought the boys (including the kid Leos) would suit. Jason knew that this was a great excuse for her to unleash her Aphrodite side on her "baby brother" and that she was probably enjoying it way more than she should.

Eventually they were all done and they left the store lugging way more bags then necessary. Fourteen and Fifteen seemed to be deep in conversation with each other and Piper caught his arm, allowing the Leos to get a little bit ahead of them. She leant in to him to whisper something into his ear.

"Normally Leo doesn't let me spoil him so I'm stocking up on clothes for him whilst he is unable to protest." Jason smiled, both at the intelligence shown in this plan and also at just how kind hearted his girlfriend was. He stooped slightly and kissed her gently on the lips. They were interrupted by a very vocal Fifteen.

"Eww guys, get a room! My poor eyes!" Fifteen fake retched at the exact same moment that Fourteen pretended to gag, and Jason was stunned to find that at that second they looked like twins. So far Fourteen's attitude had made it easy to distinguish which teen was which, but in that moment Jason would have struggled to tell the two apart if it wasn't for the clothing.

It was nice to see Fourteen acting so sunny, even if he withdrew a minute later.

Piper laughed freely, and Jason felt himself joining in. They caught up with the Leos and headed back to the ship.

Jason was worried, however, to notice that the closer they got to the ship the colder Fourteen looked.

He had been chatting so readily to Fifteen and he had even smiled at Piper and Jason a few times, Jason couldn't comprehend why he was returning to is sullen behaviour. They reached the Argo a few minutes later. The others had all returned before them, their unexpected alley detour had delayed them for a short while.

As soon as Six noticed Fifteen, he bounded up to his older counterpart.

"Look at what I got." He thrust something into the older boy's face, and Jason got a god luck at the item.

It was a plaque for a room, obviously a child's one. It said on it that this room belongs to the pirate Leo. Six's face practically glowed as he clutched the sign as if it were a precious treasure instead of a cheap room sign.

Fifteen smiled down at the child.

"That's awesome!" He sounded as if he genuinely meant it, and Jason grinned as Six went to show the item to Eight.

Fourteen snorted derisively and Jason turned to him, baffled by his mood swings.

Fifteen glared at Fourteen.

"What?" Fourteen smiled, though it was a harsh, cruel smile.

"I don't think that we should indulge his stupid whims, that's all." Fifteen shifted into a more confrontational stance as Six evidently heard this comment and turned to Fourteen with hurt eyes.

"Seriously! He's us as a kid, why are you being so nasty to him?" Fifteen's voice was a weird blend of anger, suspicion and frustration.

"Because I can acknowledge the fact that we were a stupid child who was way too naive and I personally think that we should prepare him to face the harsh reality of life sooner rather than later." Fifteen's eyes narrowed at this and he stepped forwards menacingly. Frank and Hazel clearly realised that the situation was deteriorating as they escorted Eight off deck immediately. Annabeth shot him a look and he nodded back to her. Percy and Annabeth ushered Six away after this non verbal exchange ended.

He glanced at Piper, it was up to them to defuse this situation safely.

"You are not going to tell Six about mom." Fifteen's voice was icy, and Fourteen stepped forwards to meet him, they were now practically nose to nose.

"Why not, we all know." Fourteen's voice was flippant though his eyes held a scary intensity.

"Because he is too young." Fourteen seemed to explode at this, lunging forwards and twisting his hand into Fifteen's shirt, drawing him closer and glaring directly into his eyes.

Jason was about to step forwards, and Piper opened her mouth to order the boys to calm down (her face reluctant) but Fifteen sent them a subtle gesture to wait.

"Isn't Eight too young? We were too young for it to happen anyway, why does it matter if part of us finds out a little earlier ?" Fifteen smirked, and for the first time Fourteen's anger was reflected by the older version.

"You just want to corrupt him so you feel less guilty, don't you?" Fourteen froze and his grip on Fifteen's shirt slackened though the hand still remained tangled within the fabric.

"What the hell do you mean?" His voice was icier than a blast from Khione and Jason actually shivered at the danger that it radiated. Fifteen remained unfazed.

"You see, the way I see it is this. You can't stand the sight of a version of us that is so pure, so untainted by the darker part of life. And that enrages you because you know that we can never regain that innocence. You've just left Beast's gang, haven't you? That incident has just happened for you."

"Don't you dare bring that up!" Fourteen's voice was tight with barely restrained fury and a trace of regret that made Jason very curious as to what "that incident" could be.

"Oh I'm not the one who brought it up in the first place. You did." Fifteen pulled a piece of paper out of his tool belt, and Piper gasped.

"So that's where he stashed it." She muttered. Jason would have questioned this, but his attention needed to be directed at the Leos.

Fourteen had paled considerably, and Fifteen's smirk turned predatory.

"So are you being such an ass because of this?" It happened so instantaneously that Jason would have missed it if it wasn't for his demigod ADHD, Fourteen wrenched the picture out of Fifteen's hand and tackled him to the deck, the paper fluttering away. Piper snatched it up, but as the situation was incredibly serious, the picture was stowed away into her pocket for the time being.

Fifteen's P.O.V

Fifteen knew what Fourteen was going through. The incident had affected him gravely, he still wasn't sure if he had fully recovered from it. That didn't completely excuse his behaviour though, and Fifteen was getting sick of it.

They were tussling on the floor now. They had similar abilities, but Fourteen had fought more recently then himself (that was a confusing thought, and Fifteen tried to shove away he weirdness of knowing that Fourteen was technically himself), and this gave him an upper hand.

They rolled around quite a bit, but Fourteen ended up on top and he slugged Fifteen in the jaw. Fifteen felt his lip split as another fist crossed into his face, and he absentmindedly spat the blood to one side as they brawled.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Piper and Jason moving forwards to separate them.

"Hey, this is between me, myself and I." He hissed as he dodged a brutal kick from Fourteen. The others faltered. With a grunt, he managed to flip Fourteen over, pinning him to the deck with a knee to the chest and his hands held securely at his sides.

"¿Terminas? (finished?)" He grunted, but Fourteen simply struggled.

"Nunca! (never!)" Fourteen growled as managed to kick the back of Fifteen's head. Fifteen flinched, but he managed to keep Fourteen down.

"You need to stop this." He aimed for an authoritative tone yet it came out more annoyed then anything.

Somehow, Fourteen managed to buck him off, and he hit the deck with a thump. He groaned as Fourteen loomed over him.

"Don't forget that that incident was you fault as well." His younger counterpart stomped away, avoiding both Jason and Piper's attempts at stopping him.

Jason sighed and offered him a hand. Fifteen took it gratefully. He passed his hand through his hair, tugging the end in exasperation. He knew that his friends would want to know about that incident, but Fifteen wasn't up to telling them.

"Come on." His head snapped up as Piper reached a hand out to him.

"Let's get you patched up." She tugged him away and Fifteen was shocked that she hadn't questioned him yet. Jason trailed after them as they headed down one of the ship's numerous corridors. Fifteen remembered their destination from the tour, the infirmary was just down the next hall.

When they reached the sick bay he was pushed to sit on the bed whilst Piper rooted through the drawers of the medicine cabinet. She reappeared from the cabinet wielding a baggy of what looked to be smashed up biscuits. Her face wasn't impressed as she shot Jason a look.

"Someone somehow managed to crush most of the Ambrosia, but some of it is still edible." She took out a fairly intact chunk and passed it to him.

"Eat that and it should heal up your face." Jason instructed, and Fifteen complied, to exhausted to even make a joke. This day had taken a lot out of him, and he had a sinking feeling that it was only going to get worse from now on.

He slowly ingested the ambrosia, and his eyes widened as the taste of his mom's tacos filtered into his mouth. He savoured the taste, closing his eyes as he ate the rest and humming with appreciation.

"Can I have more?" He asked as soon as his portion was finished with, and he was dismayed when Piper shook her head.

"Too much of the God's food is bad for demigods." Fifteen acknowledged this sadly, he had really missed his mom's cooking. He sighed suddenly.

"I should probably take some with me and go find Fourteen." Piper hesitated before handing over another square. Fifteen nodded at the two as he left the room. He knew instinctively exactly where Fourteen was.

He made a beeline for the engine room and when he got there he found Fourteen hunched over one of the engines, breathing heavily with his eyes squeezed shut.

"Fourteen." He said in lieu of a greeting, and the younger boy tilted his head in acknowledgement. Fifteen knew that the other boy wouldn't talk right now.

"Here, eat this and it will heal any of your injuries." Fourteen shot him and evil stare, but he took the ambrosia anyway.

"I'll be in the dining room if you want to talk." He left then, not catching the way Fourteen ate a small part of the ambrosia and the wicked curve to his lips when he realised that the food really could heal you.

Piper's P.O.V

Fourteen hadn't reappeared all day, but Fifteen insisted that his younger self was probably cooling off.

The atmosphere was admittedly more pleasant without the moody teen, but Piper was still worried about him.

She sighed concernedly as she changed. As she hung her jeans up though, as piece of paper fell out of one of the pockets. She recognised it as the picture that Fourteen had been drawing, but she decided till wait until the next day to look at it. She was too tired right now to think straight and so it was best that she wait until she was clear headed to find out what "that incident" could possibly be.

Loud shouts woke her up, and Piper rolled out of bed, grabbing Katoptris and absent-mindedly shoving the crumpled paper into her pyjama pocket,

Racing up to the deck, she was met with a very confusing and frightening image.

Fifteen was fuming, stalking up and down the deck and angrier then she had ever seen him at the Wilderness school. He was like a caged lion who was unable to break free of his prison in the way he tightly prowled up and down the deck.

Smoke drifted from his ears in a comedic fashion but his furious expression removed all traces of humour.

The others were all trying to calm him down as Six and eight clung to Hazel in fear. The daughter of Pluto was doing her best to help the children, but even she had no clue how to handle the situation.

They had never seen Fifteen so uncontrolled, so wild. His temper had flared up yesterday, but that was mostly just in reaction to Fourteen. Then Piper noticed that Fifteen wasn't wearing his tool belt and things started clicking into place.

"No..." Everyone except for Fifteen turned to her as she stumbled up to the pacing Latino.

His eyes met hers and they were filled with flickering flames that crackled with pent up anger. Those eyes ironically chilled her. They were just so filled up with rage that it took Piper's breath away.

"He's gone. He took my tool belt and ran." His words were clipped and succinct and they stabbed through Piper with a sharper edge than the dagger clenched in her palm.

Fourteen had ran and he now had a virtually limitless tool belt. He could survive on the streets for weeks. They had lost him. Her knees collided with the deck.

* * *

Probably a bad place to end it, but oh well :) I'll see you this weekend, but from then on this story should only be updated on Wednesdays or Thursdays.


	6. Chapter 6

And here is the next chapter of Knowing Leo. I kind of left you on a cliffhanger last chapter, so that situation still needs to be resolved. Thank you to everyone who faved or followed and I hope you enjoy it.

Kittehx1 : I would love to see Fourteen (or any version of Leo really) work at Walmart.

Melancholy's Sunshine : They probably should, but with Fourteen it might just make it worse. And as to who finds him, it's going to be fun to write ;) And I would love to see those four proudly discussing Leo and Nico's tattoos.

Cecld16 : Thanks, and I love contrasting their characters, it really shows how much someone can change in a year.

Skyfir3S4kur4 : He is an emotional, difficult place right now :) He can't really be blamed for reacting badly (I sound like a parent who is unwilling to admit their child's flaws).

Ira-chan : So you are used to the cliffhangers of doom then :) And what is on the paper will be revealed this chapter.

ObsessedwReading : Thank you for both of your reviews.

Catsrawesome : Thanks, both for your review and for your consideration. I just get so excited when I'm writing that I tend to not notice any spelling mistakes, and then I'm so excited that I just update without proofreading. I'm sorry for that, and I'll try to improve on this issue in the future.

Lyra : Then you can add one very existent friend to that list :)

Connwaer Heap : Yep you will find out a little about that incident this chapter. And it really isn't good that Fourteen is missing.

Gavroche Is Life Itself : The demigods have their work cut out for them tracking down Fourteen.

Sidda : I don't have any younger siblings (my sister is older than me) but I have dealt with younger cousins before and it is never fun. And I hope that you are okay even with the medication. If it's any consolation, I have really bad hearing (no medical issue, but it is really terrible) and I often look like I'm ignoring people too. As for Minecraft, I'm really sorry but I've never played it :( I've seen other people play it and it looks fun though. And yep, both Ben and Dark Link can be pervs.

Readingaddict24 : Thank you, and I'll try.

Kris Awesomeness : Because I love cliffhangers. And you'll get to see who finds him soon.

Our Mismatched Socks : I'm glad that you enjoyed it, though I can't promise that everything will turn out okay as Fourteen is really stubborn.

Disclaimer : If I owned HOO then my fanfictions would be canon. They are not canon.

* * *

Nico's P.O.V

Nico was really annoyed at that little runt Fourteen. After they had talked in the stables, Nico had hoped that Fourteen would be a little more open to talking out his problems.

Nico wasn't usually the type to want to talk about emotions and things like that, but he felt a connection to the turbulent Fourteen that he couldn't describe. He just felt as if the other boy would understand him.

But now the brat had just ran off and the demigods were all a mess. Fifteen looked furious, both at himself and at his younger self. The kids just looked confused, though Six was trying to cheer everyone up whereas Eight seemed to be withdrawing within himself.

Piper was kneeling on the floor in shock, her hand tightly wrapped around what looked to be a piece of paper. Jason had a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Annabeth had her lips pursed, obviously making a plan in her head about what they should do. Percy was pacing almost as furiously as Fifteen.

Hazel was crying into Frank's shoulder, the shape shifter rubbing her back soothingly.

Coach Hedge was creating a lot of "interesting" punishments to inflict upon the runaway.

Everyone of the whole demigods clutched a weapon, or had one sheathed in a belt around their waist.

Piper stood up shakily, brushing of Jason's hand as Fifteen slowly ran out of steam.

She walked over to him, and Nico moved closer, wondering what Piper was holding.

He heard her mutter "I'm going to look at the picture." Fifteen's eyes widened with fear, but Piper unfolded the paper before he could protest.

Nico observed the girl as she glanced at the picture. He couldn't see what the picture depicted from her angle, but he could see the horrible mix of emotion in her eyes.

Fear, sadness, anger, despair all radiated from the older demigod as she gazed at whatever the picture was. Fifteen desperately lunged at her, trying to snatch away the paper, but Nico grabbed it instead.

He looked down at the terrible scene depicted.

Unconscious bodies lay on the floor of the alleyway. Some had tattoos of wild and vicious animals, while the others had various demon tattoos. And standing at the back of the alley, blood splattering his clothes and coating his hands which were clutching a metal pipe, was Fourteen. His eyes were wild, and though he was standing tall, gazing unseeingly at the mess of knocked out gangsters, his feet located in a puddle of blood that reflected his weapon. On the wall behind him was the image of a lion (done in graffiti style) with the words "The Beasts are loose" underneath it.

Nico felt a cold shiver run through him. From what he had been told about Leo Valdez from his sister, he was a happy go lucky jokester.

He passed the picture behind him to Jason, staring at Fifteen's devastated face. When the Latino noticed Nico watching him, he tilted his face to the floor, trembling imperceptibly as the picture made its way around each of the demigods.

Percy was the last person to receive the picture. Nico stared at the older boy's fists as they clenched around the picture.

"Coach, take the kids to the games room. We need to talk to Fifteen." The Coach complained about being given babysitting duty, but he obligingly took a hand of each kid and guided them downstairs.

And then all eyes were on Fifteen who shifted under the weight of all of their stares.

Jason took the picture from Percy and stalked over to Fifteen. He thrust the crumpled paper into the younger demigods face.

"Is this _that incident_?" Nico had no idea what he was talking about, but evidently Fifteen did as he nodded hesitantly. Jason folded his arms.

"Feel like explaining." Fifteen looked up, and his face was closed off.

"No. I won' explain without Fourteen's help." Piper groaned.

"But Fourteen isn't going to tell us anything." Fifteen glared, and Nico was shocked at the way his personality had gone from calm and understanding to as obstinate as Fourteen.

Percy seemed to gage Fifteen's expression for a moment or two, before nodding.

"Fine. We'll look for Fourteen first. But when we find him, you are both going to tell us what this picture represents got it?" Fifteen rolled his eyes.

"Sureeeee." He drawled lazily.

Everyone else seemed to be thrown of by Fifteen's attitude, as most of them remained gaping at him.

"So are we making a plan or what?" He snapped sulkily. This looked to snap everybody out of their shocked stupor, and Annabeth instantly took charge.

"Well there are eight of us right now, we could all split into twos and search for Fourteen whilst Coach Hedge watches over the kids." They all agreed to this, and then they split into their pairs. It was pretty obvious who was going to end up with who, if all the couples joined together then Nico was left with Fifteen. He didn't really mind, he had the feeling that Fifteen was the most likely to track down the errant Fourteen.

Piper went to tell the Coach about what was going on while the other demigods all waited on the deck.

As he leant against the railing, Nico noticed the way Fifteen's fingers were twisting and wringing together. He knew that Leo was meant to be super ADHD, and he recognised this as a sign of needing to do something with his hands.

Nico shuffled over to his sister.

"Hazel." He whispered in her ear to gain her attention, making her jump.

"What's wrong Nico?" She asked sweetly, and Nico nodded his head towards Fifteen who's hands were now shaking in an almost imperceptible manner.

Hazel sighed, and she loped off towards the wheel and its elaborate set up. She reached in and jiggled her arm around, before slithering her arm back, clutching a handful of pipe cleaners.

Nico gave his sister a look, expecting an explanation.

"He's got pipe cleaners hidden all over the place. If he's bored and doesn't want to make anything mechanical then he often just makes things out of these. I only know about this because I saw him stashing these ones and he confessed it all to me." Nico shook his head slightly, taking the proffered pipe cleaners. Hazel grinned at him as he mumbled thank you before heading back to her boyfriend who had been talking rapturously to Jason.

Nico the familiar skin crawl of having someone watching you then, and he whirled around to see Fifteen eyeing the pipe cleaners in his hand with excitement. Nico sighed before ambling towards his partner for this little excursion.

"Here." Nico dropped the furry objects into Fifteen's waiting palm, casually trying to ignore the re-ignited spark in the Latino's eye as he fiddled with them.

"Thanks." Nico simply nodded, a little embarrassed by the level of gratitude in Fifteen's voice.

It at that moment that Piper returned with strict instructions from Coach Hedge to "bring Valdez back in one piece so that I can punish him for leaving". Nico really didn't envy Fourteen if Coach got a hold of them.

They all split into their groups and left the boat, all aiming for different streets and areas.

Nico followed Fifteen who seemed to have a specific destination in mind.

"So do you know where he is?" Fifteen turned to him with a start, almost as if he had forgotten that they were meant to be a duo. His hands weaved around the pipe cleaners, seemingly making a truck.

"Not really, it's more of a feeling." Nico's felt his eyebrow raising.

"Then why didn't you tell us about this feeling before we all separated?" Fifteen halted and spun to face Nico once again.

"Look, if we all crowd Fourteen right now then there's no way that we're getting him back. But if just us two catch up to him, hopefully I can talk some sense into him." Nico couldn't help but yield to that logic, he wouldn't want all of the demigods after him at once after all.

They ran in silence after that, Nico felt no need to talk and evidently neither did Fifteen.

Then they slowed down, and Fifteen took a deep breath.

"I think that we're near." He uttered confidently, and Nico drew his sword. Fifteen looked at the weapon in dismay. At first, Nico thought it was because they were about to face Fourteen and Nico had felt the need to draw a weapon, and he was about to explain that a monster might have been drawn to the other demigod, when Fifteen spoke up and dispelled his doubts over what Fifteen was pouting over.

"I don't have a weapon." Nico rolled his eyes for the second time that day.

"You've got your fire." Fifteen recoiled then, and his eyes darkened.

"That's not a weapon that I'm going to be using." His tone was frosty, and Nico hastily backtracked his thoughts.

"Well, if we encounter a monster then I should be able to take care of it." Fifteen didn't look appeased by this, but Nico started walking and the other boy was forced to follow him.

The sight that they were greeted by when they turned the corner was not a nice one.

Fourteen was backed against a wall, a black bag lying beside him. The tool belt adorned his skinny hips, but that wasn't the most important thing to catch Nico's eye.

Oh no, that would be the slathering hell hound that hovered over him. The large beasts saliva dripped from its fangs, landing inches away Fourteen's knee. Fourteen seemed to be torn between utter disgust the blob of doggy slobber wobbling near his leg, and complete and utter terror over the monster that was staring down at him as if were a tasty meal.

Hellhounds didn't bother Nico - being a child of Hades - but this one probably would eat Fourteen if they didn't do something. Fifteen dropped his creation in shock.

He saw Fourteen's hand slowly sliding into the tool belt, and he hoped that whatever the boy pulled out wouldn't catch the attention of the hound.

The Latino desperately fished in the belt for a moment or two, before his face turned triumphant and he pulled out a... tin of breath mints. Nico both saw and heard Fifteen facepalming beside him.

Fourteen held the tin up with a quivering hand.

"Mint?" He offered. The hellhound wasn't impressed as it growled and got ready to pounce. Nico took this as his cue, leaping forwards and swiping at the dog's legs.

The hound howled and Fourteen scrambled up, darting around the monster, bag in hand.

He joined Fifteen who scowled at him.

Nico had a feeling that Fourteen was going to get a massive lecture from the oldest Leo when they got back to the ship.

Nico was drew from his thoughts when the hellhound charged him. He dodged, but the giant dog managed to scratch his leg. It wasn't the worst injury ever, but it was bloody, and he saw the Leos horrified eyes turned towards it.

The injury on his leg threw him off balance, and as he jumped to avoid another charge, the hellhound managed to knock him into a wall. His sword skittered away underneath the beasts hindquarters as it pinned Nico to the wall with a glare. The giant dog snorted into his face, it couldn't comprehend what to do now. Nico had attacked it, but the dog wasn't meant to attack children of Hades.

Nico knew that the bestial nature had won out as the dog's eyes were awash in a sea of bloodlust. And then Nico spotted Fourteen and Fifteen in action. Fourteen had given the tool belt back to Fifteen who was furiously creating something. Fourteen was creeping closer and closer to the dog's legs.

And then the younger Leo was rolling underneath the hellhound, snatching up Nico's blade just as the beast prepared to charge.

Fourteen stabbed the blade into the opposite leg to the one Nico had cut. Another howl was emitted as the beast turned on its secondary target.

Nico raced towards Fifteen, he needed to know what the plan was, because clearly the Leos had cooked up some sort of scheme.

"Fourteen's distracting it. I'm making a collar." Nico knew for sure then that the Leos were crazy.

"A collar! It's a hellhound!" Fifteen shot him an irritated look.

"It's an overgrown mutt who needs to be tamed." Nico was broken out of this insane argument by and excited bark.

The hellhound had pinned Fourteen underneath one humongous paw. This was clearly straining Fourteen's ribs and lungs from the way he was gasping for breath. Nico's sword lay in his hand, and Fourteen looked up. Chocolate eyes met Nico's own, and Fourteen smirked at him.

"Catch." He mouthed, before he twisted in what had to be a very uncomfortable way and chucked the sword at Nico.

It was lucky that Nico had had enough training to be able to catch the weapon, he didn't feel like losing an eye to his very own sword.

But just as he got ready to, reluctantly (the beast was technically a pet of his father even if this one was sort of rogue), end the beast once and for all, Fifteen launched himself onto the hellhound's back with some explosive flipping. In the Latino's hand was an enormous dog collar.

Nico watched in awe as Fifteen ran along the beast's spine with all of the grace of a tightrope artist before securing the collar around the dog's neck. Apparently the hound didn't like that as it whimpered and raised it's paws up to claw at the metal ring. This gave Fourteen the opportunity to move, and he bounded over to Nico, as if his ribs hadn't just been squashed.

The hellhound started bucking, but Fifteen had obviously thought ahead as he was gripping a handhold which had been built into the collar.

The insane demigod rode the dog like it was rodeo bull, until the monster realised that this was its fate and calmed down.

Fifteen perched on its back victoriously., waving down at Fourteen and Nico. Then, the shadows around the monster began to ripple, and Nico recognised what the dog's next move would be.

"Fifteen, jump!" He ordered as loudly as he could manage. Fifteen stared down at him bemusedly as the space around the dog's paws began to ripple.

"Fifteen, it's going to teleport!" Shadow travel wasn't technically teleportation, but this was no time to worry about the details. Not when the hellhound was about to drag Fifteen off into some other realm.

Fourteen evidently caught onto the urgency in Nico's voice as he to started screaming to Fifteen.

"Jump of the perro, idiota! (dog, idiot!)" Fourteen bellowed, and it obviously clicked as Fifteen ran back along the dog's spine before jumping just as the monster disappeared, the collar still around its neck.

Fifteen fell, but he twisted as he did, and he rolled elegantly before popping up, face eerily close to Nico's who scrambled back.

The boy was wearing a proud smile, but then his eyes drifted to Fourteen, and a deep frown took over.

He stomped over to his younger counterpart and leant in, hissing something in Spanish into Fourteen's ear.

Fourteen gulped and then nodded.

Fifteen's expression flipped in an instant, changing to a large grin. Nico wondered what Fifteen had said to Fourteen, but he noticed something before his curiosity could take over.

Fifteen's pipe cleaner truck lay on the cement, miraculously undamaged. Nico strolled over to it, and scooped it up. Both Leos were watching him, and he walked back to Fifteen, shoving the object into his hands, much the same way as he had given him the pipe cleaners in the first place.

Fifteen eyed the unfinished project for a moment, before handing it to Fourteen, pulling out some nuts and bolts from his belt.

Fourteen took over creating the truck as they made there way back to the ship. Nico was amazed by this sign of unity, maybe the teens would be getting on better from now on.

And then Nico remembered the picture that still needed to be explained and shuddered. This new harmony could be destroyed when Fourteen finds out that they have to tell the demigods about whatever "that incident" was.

In fact, the situation could become even worse than it had been before.

* * *

So Fourteen is heading back to the ship willingly, but just how willing will he be to tell the others what "that incident" is. See you all next time.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello everybody :) Fourteen may have been found last chapter, but he still has to tell everyone about that incident along with Fifteen. Thank you to everyone who faved or followed.

Connwaer Heap : It would have been really, really bad. And the incident will be explained soon.

Skyfir3S4kur4 : You okay there Sky-chan :)? And Japanese obscenities are way more fun than English ones.

Ira-chan : Thanks for saying that the fight was good, I usually end up making fight scenes seem quite unrealistic. And the incident wasn't shown in LAL because Hera was completely unsure of how the demigods would take it. With most of the other things that she showed, Leo's actions were justified and she could be fairly certain that the demigods would be on Leo's side. With this incident she didn't have that guarantee.

Cecld16 : I'm glad that you liked it. And both boys will be unwilling though you'll have to read to find out just how unwilling they are.

Creampuffs-and-fluff : Thanks, and I was going to explain this at the end of the chapter and I completely forgot! Basically, with most of the other memories Hera knew that the demigods would support Leo through them, but with this memory Hera was too uncertain of how they would react to show it. Even in most of the memories where Leo did something bad (drinking, fighting, stealing etc) he had a reason so Hera was okay with showing them, but this incident is a little trickier.

Melancholy's Sunshine : That does sound like Hades, he seems to be a strong believer in the tough love principle. I can just imagine the dog slinking back to Hades with it's new collar, and Hades laughing at Fifteen's ingenious scheme, all while souls cower in fear at the sound of Hades laughing. And there will definitely be a lot of resistance before this secret is spilled, though it may make them all closer in the end.

Matt : Could you send me a link for it please, I would like to read it.

Killua minamoto : I hope that you had fun even if you didn't have wifi. Your understanding of Fourteen is great, he is a very complex Leo who is suffering a lot of negativity. You'll have to tell me about whether or not your idea was right.

Sidda : Don't worry, Leo didn't turn into a creepy pasta. Though they would all make pretty scary creepy pastas. Frank would have to be called something like the shifter, maybe a child who was lost in the woods and now turns into various animals to stalk/hunt people in the night. Leo would be the blaze, a terrifying being made of fire who scorches people to death. Piper would be the siren. I'd like to call Jason Tempest or even Tornado, a natural disaster waiting to happen. I can't really think of a name for Percy, but he could be a kid who drowned and now drowns others to make playmates. Hazel could be Queen of the underworld. I can't think of one for Annabeth. I'm glad that you're off your meds.

Catsrawesome : That would be pretty scary, though the others would probably be able to stop him.

Kris Awesomeness : Yep, crazy things happen in gangs. I do support Valdangelo, though this story isn't going to be one. I pretty much just ship Leo with anyone who makes sense if the story is good.

Timthetomato : Thank you, I'm glad that you are enjoying both sequels, I love writing both :)

Disclaimer : Was the first series called Leo Valdez and the Olympians? No? Well it wasn't mine then. I don't own Batman either.

* * *

Percy's P.O.V

An hour had passed since they had all parted, and Percy was trudging back to the ship with Annabeth, disheartened at their failure to find the missing Leo.

Annabeth had tried to cheer him up by mentioning that the others had probably located Fourteen, yet Percy couldn't help feeling disappointed that he wasn't the one to find him. His big brother instincts had been on overdrive lately, with a boat load of younger demigods including four young versions of Leo, he couldn't stop his over protectiveness. Perhaps his fatal flaw was also flaring up, but Percy was determined to help all four Leos as much as he could, which meant that they were going to have to force them to confess about that incident as soon as they were back together.

Otherwise they would have a chance to scheme and to deflect attention away from the subject, a skill that Leo had completely mastered.

They approached the ship quietly as Percy mused over whether or not his instincts needed to be toned down. His girlfriend was probably thinking of what they would do if Fourteen hadn't been tracked down.

As Percy climbed onto the deck, he noticed that Hazel, Frank, Piper and Jason had all returned without Fourteen in tow. It was up to Jason and Fifteen to bring the teen back.

Before they had split up, it had been decided that they would search for an hour before reconvening. If Fourteen hadn't been found by then, they would head out again.

The demigods waited anxiously for their friend's return. Percy tapped his fingers against his leg as five minutes became ten, and ten minutes became fifteen. Once twenty minutes had passed, Percy had had enough of waiting.

"Clearly Nico and Fifteen ran into trouble, I'm going to see if I can help." He stood up (they were all sitting on deck, minus the coach and the kids who were still in the games room and Frank who was in the crows nest.), and was about to go to offer his aid to Nico and Fifteen when Frank flew down from the crows nest where he had been perched.

The shape shifter had clearly heard Percy's words as he shook his head.

"No need. The others are coming back, and Fourteen's with them. Though it looks like Nico's injured." Percy raced over to the railing to see Nico being supported by the teen Leos who were berating him for not bringing his injury up again until his leg had given in on him three streets back.

Percy quickly ran his eyes over the trio, scouring them for other injuries. Fifteen appeared fine, and Nico's only apparent wound was the gash in his leg (it was bleeding quite profusely, but Percy could tell that it wasn't life threatening) but something in Fourteen's stance hinted at a problem with his ribs.

Percy instantly went to assist them, telling Fourteen that he could help Fifteen. He was shocked by the glare that he received as Fourteen tightened his grip around Nico's waist in an almost protective manner.

"It's fine, I've got this." Fourteen's voice held an inaudible taunt, a subtle nuance on "I've" that challenged Percy. Percy stepped up to the challenge, the demigods who were whole had to have some authority over the Leo or everything would be screwed.

"Your ribs are clearly injured, it would be better for them if you only had to support your own weight. One of us will fetch some ambrosia for you two." He wasn't going to risk the Leos wriggling out of telling them about that incident by distracting them in the infirmary. On the word "ambrosia", Fourteen shifted minutely. A dark flush grazed Fifteen's cheekbones as he stared at Fourteen incredulously.

"¡Seriamente! (seriously!)" The older Leo exclaimed, and Percy suddenly felt Nico being shoved into his arms as Fifteen ragged Fourteen's bag away from his and began rifling through its content.

Fourteen spluttered, but didn't make a move to stop Fifteen, instead he looked at the ground with a hint of shame.

After a good few seconds of rummaging, Fifteen withdrew his hand triumphantly. In it was a small zip lock bag containing a small portion of ambrosia. It clearly wasn't all of the ambrosia that the demigods possessed, but Fourteen had still taken it from them without asking.

Wordlessly, Fifteen broke off a tiny section that he handed to Fourteen before he tossed the bag to Percy, who almost dropped Nico to catch it.

He came to the conclusion that letting Nico sit on the deck was in everyone's best interest, and he lightly deposited the younger boy onto the wood floor. Percy then passed the ambrosia down to him. Nico gratefully accepted the bag, eating a piece swiftly to stem the blood flow.

Then Percy's eyes met Jason's and he realised that it was time to confront the Leos about that incident.

As Fifteen scolded Fourteen for robbing the ambrosia, Percy slid as stealthily as he could so that he was standing between them and the door. Jason followed Percy, and after a brief hesitation, Frank also joined their human barricade.

Fifteen's angry chiding tailed off as he became aware of the three taller, more muscular boys blocking the exit. Evidently he also noticed that everyone was staring at him and his doppelgänger as he gulped loudly.

"Geez guys, I know that I'm gorgeous but there really is no need to stare. I can get you all signed photographs if you truly can't bear to part with the sight of my beautiful face." No one laughed, and now Fourteen was looking worried as well.

Fifteen's hands were rapidly tinkering with some items from his tool belt, and Fourteen was twiddling a pipe cleaner fire truck.

Percy turned to Jason who obligingly handed him the picture. As Percy span to confront he Leos with the image, however, he noticed that Fifteen was tapping on fourteen's arm. If this had been any one else, then this small gesture could have been shrugged off, but Percy knew that Annabeth could understand morse code and that she had more than likely noticed that Fifteen was using it.

This was proved to be correct when Annabeth's eyes widened.

"They have a plan!" She yelled out in warning just as the Leos squeezed their eyes shut and a flash bang hit the ground.

The next moments were panic filled as everyone who had been looking in the Leos direction were blinded temporarily. They all scrambled around, trying to catch the Leos before they disappeared below deck. This lasted for much longer than Percy liked.

As the spots cleared from his eyes, he became aware of an interesting predicament. Frank - obviously messed up the searing light - had turned into bear accidentally and was currently shambling around, narrowly avoiding wiping Nico out, who was sitting on the deck still, hands pressed into his eyes. Poor kid, that had probably been more light than Nico had seen in months.

Annabeth was holding Jason down in an impressive choke hold which she quickly dissolved once she had regained her sight.

Piper and Hazel were draped over each other, clearly they had ran towards the door and crashed into each other.

Neither teen Leo was in sight.

"Crap!" Piper exclaimed emphatically as Annabeth apologised to Jason and Piper helped Hazel up. Frank morphed back into his human form with a groan, and Nico clambered to his feet. Percy's eyes raked over the deck, but both Leos were gone.

"Let's search the ship." Percy ordered, heading downstairs as quickly as he could. Hopefully the teens hadn't gotten too far.

After a couple of hours of frantic searching, the demigods were slumped in the dining room, bitter defeat lingering in the air. They should have expected that Fifteen would have a plan to get out of confessing to whatever the incident was. Percy growled under his breath, and his head thumped into his arms. Even bloodhound Frank hadn't been able to find them, the ship was virtually embedded with Leo's scent and he couldn't get a lock on any individual Leo.

"Looking good guys." This cheeky voice came from the doorway, and Percy span round hoping that the teens hadn't ran off to hide, that they had just been playing a joke.

Six was standing in the doorway with Eight. Their eyes roamed over the crew. Eight waved, hand covered in marker.

"We've been in that games room for hours." Six pouted, and Percy felt guilty for leaving the kids alone with Hedge for so long. He wondered if they had even had lunch yet .

"What's wrong with all of you?" Eight's quiet voice inquired. Percy sighed and decided to come clean.

"We wanted your older counterparts to tell us something but they freaked out, used a flash bang and then ran off to hide. We've searched the entire ship and haven't found a single trace of them." The kids exchanged a glance that Percy couldn't decrypt.

"You were on the deck, right?" Eight questioned. After a round of affirmative nods, another coded look was exchanged by the children.

"Did you check the crows nest?" At Six's question, all of the demigods sat in stunned silence. Then they were all leaping out of their chairs and pounding up top, praying to any of their parents who could possibly be kind enough to listen that the teens would stay put up there.

Once they had reached the deck, Frank and Jason wasted no time before flying up to check out whether or not the Leos were hiding in the crows nest.

Percy watched from the deck, shielding his eyes from the sun in an attempt to keep his gaze on his friends. That was why he had a premium seat to view Jason suddenly being wrapped in string and dangled from the nest as if he were a henchman in a Batman game.

Then, a distinctively Leo shape was hurtling towards the ground, a rope secured around his waist.

Frank plummeted after him, not realising what the rope was for.

"Frank, don't!" Percy yelled, as Fourteen (he could identify the clothes now) sprang back up to the nest using the elasticised bungee cord to propel himself back up to Fifteen.

Frank wasn't so lucky as he couldn't pull out of his dive quickly enough to completely save himself. He rolled across the deck with an oof, and Percy winced in sympathy, Frank would probably be pulling out splinters for weeks.

It was then that Jason finally cut himself loose. He lunged at Fifteen, and Percy nodded in approval at his friend's thinking. Fifteen wouldn't struggle as he didn't have a bungee cord.

Fifteen was bowled over the edge by Jason, and he clearly wasn't stupid enough to struggle.

This didn't stop him from cussing like a sailor in numerous languages. Jason landed and Percy instantly grabbed hold of Fifteen.

Now they just had to get Fourteen to surrender and they were golden.

* * *

I promise that the incident will be explained next week, I just thought that the teen Leos would be a formidable force when working together and that they would both team up in an effort to not have to admit to what they have done. I'll see you next time for the big reveal.


	8. Chapter 8

So one Leo is down, but Fourteen is still able to put up a fight, and is Fifteen really as trapped as the others think he is? The incident will finally be revealed this chapter, so I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for all of your faves and follows.

Faltercloud : Thank you. And I really enjoyed writing the Leos methods for trying to avoid their friends.

Connwaer Heap : Thanks for being so understanding about the incident not being explained last chapter, it's going to be difficult to explain so I really needed the extra time. And the others did want the Leos to cooperate :)

Ira-chan : I hope Sky is alright :) And I'm glad that my explanation made sense. I desperately want to go bungee jumping, I love heights and always try to do things like climbing and using a zipwire. Thanks for pointing that out, and I wish that I could change it, but when I change things it says that I've updated and I don't want to confuse people.

Melancholy's Sunshine : Ah, the images that you have just given me are great! I would love to have them all handcuffed to Hedge, it would be hilarious. And even with the younger Leos, they may struggle to contain the other two.

Cecld16 : Thank you, and I hope it's worth the wait.

Alvin6299 : Thanks, and you'll find out soon :)

Matt : Thanks, I'd appreciate it.

Zoethezany III : Don't apologise for not reviewing, I'm grateful enough to have people reading my stories. I'm honoured that you think my writing is good enough to be Rick's, he's such an inspiration to me. And I'm really enjoying the relationship between Fifteen and Fourteen, they're so different considering the fact that they're the same person.

Kris Awesomeness : Fourteen's definitely not going down without a fight.

Lord of Potatoes : I'm sure you'll make it :) I do ship Solangelo, but it isn't the only Leo ship that I support and this story won't be Solangelo, sorry. I'm not sure how long this fic will be, probably 30-40 chapters.

Catsrawesome : I really am enjoying this, in reality I am a demon who feasts off the suspense of my reviewers :)

Our Mismatched Socks : Unless you want to be humiliated.

69Philyra69 : I suppose 6 and 8 are sort of girly when compared with their older counterparts.

Sidda : Such long reviews! I hope that neither of us dies ;) Your Creepypasta background stories are awesome, I love the way they form the seven creepypastas together and how you use their canon background (like with Percy) to make it more plausible. And I'm sorry Jeff, but I'd have to pick Blaze. Leo is pretty much my overall favourite character from any form of media so he trumps all for me.

ObsessedwReading : Thank you for both reviews.

Guest : I'm still alive! I'm just taking a little longer with the latest chapters of all of my fics than I'd hoped, sorry.

Disclaimer : Neither Pokemon nor HOO are mine.

* * *

Hazel's P.O.V

Hazel raced over to her groaning boyfriend and helped him get to his feet. She frowned at the sheer amount of splinters embedded in his bare arms. She counted about twelve, they would have to get them out with some tweezers later, right now they still had to get Fourteen down and keep Fifteen subdued.

Fifteen was being held tightly by Percy who's face was contorted with effort as Fifteen struggled wildly, booting Percy in the shins, kneecaps, anywhere really that he could kick from his position.

Jason was gearing up to repeat his manoeuvre from before, and Frank seemed to be preparing himself to help the son of Jupiter.

Fourteen was standing on the edge of the crows nest, the elastic rope thing still nestled around his hips. His eyes scoured the demigods on the deck, darkly glaring at Percy who was still attempting to contain Fifteen.

"He should be easier to take down now that we have his partner in crime, and he can no longer reach the tool belt." Annabeth spoke confidently, and Jason sent them a reassuring grin before taking off. Frank went to follow, but Hazel stopped him.

"Jason can handle this, it's probably best to not let those splinters get any deeper." Frank agreed with her, but his eyes uneasily traced Jason's flight up to the crows nest.

Fourteen untied the bungee cord, his eyes locking onto Jason's. Hazel took this as a good sign, maybe he was surrendering.

And then Fourteen was running to the other side of the nest. He stayed their for a moment, almost out of view, and then he was free falling. Hazel screamed as Jason sped up in an attempt to catch Fourteen before he splattered on the deck.

Just before Jason could catch him, Fourteen was shooting upwards, a wire springing out of a strange device that he was holding. On the end of this wire was a claw that latched onto the top of the mast and rocketed Fourteen past Jason.

As he zoomed past the older demigod, Hazel noticed him plant a device on the flying boy's back, somehow worming it underneath the blond boy's shirt.

"Magnemite, ability magnet pull!" Fourteen shouted as he whizzed to the top of the mast. Whatever he had placed on Jason suddenly emitted a loud beep and then he was slamming into the crows nest, hovering there unwillingly. Hazel heard Percy laughing at whatever Fourteen had shouted, but Hazel was baffled by it.

Piper seemed incredulous.

"You gave him a grapple gun!" Piper hissed, but Fifteen was laughing at the spectacle in front of them and didn't reply. Frank sighed.

"I'll go fetch him." He got ready to shapeshift, but Hazel once again stilled him.

"We don't know what nasty things he has planned up there." She reasoned, and Annabeth agreed.

"But they haven't done anything fatal so far." Frank pointed out, and Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"That's not the point. We can't let them just incapacitate us one by one. We need a plan."

"OUCH!" Percy bellowed. Hazel span to see what was wrong with him, but then Fifteen was racing past her. She lunged to try and intercept him, but then he too was soaring up the mast with a gun pulled out of his belt. There wasn't enough space at the top for both Leo's however, and his grapple gun took him to the top of the very last sail instead of the very top of the mast where Fourteen resided.

He waved jauntily down at them. Percy was lying on the deck, slight spasms running through his hand and a very angry look on his face.

"He freaking tasered me!"

"How, you were completely restraining him?" Annabeth didn't look happy either, her eyes narrowing as she glared up at the teen Leos. The spasms that wracked Percy's hand subsided, and he stood up.

"Apparently he had a handheld taser up his sleeve and he was able to slip it into his hand. He tasered my finger!" Hazel choked down a giggle at Percy's pouting face. This was a serious situation after all.

"Should I go and try to detach Jason?" Frank inquired, and Annabeth sent him a curt nod, eyes still focused on their resident pranksters. Hazel hoped that Annabeth would remember hat these were two younger Leos, and that she wouldn't go overboard in bringing them down because Fifteen had mildly injured Percy.

Frank shifted into a bird and flew up to the crows nest. Hazel prayed that the splinters didn't make this process too painful.

She watched as Frank struggled to free Jason from the magnets. They were obviously very strong as Jason had been unable to wriggle out of his shirt to remove himself from their grasp.

Then Jason was flying freely again, and both boys headed down to meet them on the deck. Frank was scowling and rubbing his arms, the splinters had obviously shifted.

"If Leo tasered you, then why wasn't he affected?" Piper questioned a frowning Percy.

"His clothes must have insulated him." Annabeth answered for her boyfriend.

"You guys aren't doing a very good job of this." The young voice of Eight stated bluntly from his new position in the doorway with Six. Annabeth sent the child an irritated look which upset Hazel. It wasn't the children's fault that their older counterparts were being so stubborn. And then an idea struck Hazel.

"Would you guys help us out?" Eight and Six (who had been giggling at the teens up on the mast), looked briefly at one another. Mischievous grins spread across their faces.

"What's in it for us?" Both kids folded their arms and leant back slightly on their heels. Hazel smiled at the way the kids were trying to hustle them, they just looked more adorable like that.

"Well what do you want?" Percy was looking at the miniature Leos with an expression that was part fondness for the kids and part a grimace due to their cunningness. They knew that the older demigods probably wouldn't succeed in pinning the teen Leos down without their help, and they were obviously determined to get something in exchange for their services.

"Permission to share the tool belt." Eight's voice was firm, unshakeable. This was that they wanted and they clearly wouldn't settle for anything else.

After a bit of silent communication, Annabeth turned to the little devils.

"If one of us is with you then you can borrow the tool belt from Fifteen. But only if one of us is present, otherwise we'll rescind this privilege." The imps nodded solemnly, and then raced away, yelling over their shoulders that they were going to fetch some supplies.

After a few tetchy minutes of trying to ignore the teen Leos' taunting, the kids returned bearing their own weapons.

The teen Leos started to look worried.

"So here's the plan." Eight beckoned them all in and whispered their plan. It wasn't flawless, so many things could go horribly wrong, but it had a better chance of succeeding than everything they had come up with so the demigods sorted out the last few details.

Hazel took a steadying breath when her part in the plan had been decided. And then Hazel realised how stupid they were all being going with such a reckless plan when they had the perfect solution right under their nose.

"Why doesn't Piper just use charmspeak?" All of the older demigods groaned.

"Why didn't we think of this earlier instead of wasting a load of time?" Nico grumbled. Piper shifted uncomfortably.

"I didn't really want to have to force them into anything like that, but as this situation is desperate, I will get them to come down and then the rest is up to them." Everyone agreed, and at Annabeth's insistence, Eight and Six cobbled together a megaphone for Piper to use.

Out of the corner of her eye, Hazel observed the grins on the teen Leos' faces getting wider.

"Come down here safely right now!" Piper ordered through the megaphone, and Hazel felt the familiar tingle of charmspeak flood over her.

Fourteen stuck his tongue out, and neither Leo budged. Piper smacked her head.

"I completely forgot, they know about my powers. They're probably wearing ear plugs."

"Looks like plan awesome then." Six grinned. Hazel shuddered, she wasn't really looking forwards to her part of the plan.

Discretely, Eight slipped a small object into her hand and then he and Six slipped the rest of their "gifts" into the hands of the other demigods. Her and Percy moved closer to the railings, but Percy went near the wheel while Hazel stood closer to the mast. The item in her hand was clutched tightly as she prayed that this plan was successful.

Fourteen was keeping a wary eye on her and Percy whilst Fifteen was watching over the others. That was why he was the one to trap Jason in a net when he attacked from the front as Fourteen caught Frank who was attacking form behind. The boys struggled convincingly, but their goal was not to get free immediately.

Fortuna must have been smiling upon them as Frank's shoe fell off near to Hazel, giving her the perfect excuse to dodge it and slip off the ship.

Any of the others would probably have a witty phrase going through their heads right now, but all Hazel could think of was how she really didn't want to die again.

She could feel wind racing around her as she plummeted, and then the horrified face of Fourteen as he hurtled towards her. Hazel levelled out as best as she could, and Fourteen caught up and grabbed her hand.

He was about to use his grapple gun to save them from their doom when Hazel pressed a button the small object in her hands. As Eight had hurriedly explained, the object turned into a very good pair of handcuffs, and Hazel was attaching herself to Fourteen before he could activate his grapple.

A few seconds before they landed fatally, the water surged up in the shape of a hand and wrapped around them.

They were lowered gently to the deck, dripping wet but otherwise unharmed. And now Fourteen couldn't do anything without endangering Hazel's safety. His eyes were betrayed, and Hazel winced at the anger in them. They had to find out what that incident was, Hebe wanted them to get to know Leo better and she more than likely wouldn't return Leo to his normal state of being without them learning more about him.

Percy whipped out his gift from the children and wrapped it around Fourteen's other wrist. The look on his face was incredibly uncomfortable, but they were responsible for the Leos safety and that meant going to the extremes.

Fourteen's new tracker flickered, and he glared at them hatefully.

Hazel chose to look at Fifteen instead.

The oldest Leo was being to look a little panicked. This clearly wasn't going to plan. Hazel could also see Piper's hand clenched around her megaphone. Her part in the plan was also key, and Hazel smiled at the older girl encouragingly. Percy chose that moment to go and help Annabeth. Both of them took a child Leo onto their back and began climbing the mast. Nico remained with Piper on the deck.

Hazel felt a small tug on the arm that was cuffed to Fourteen. He had shifted so that his arms were wrapped around his knees, or at least that was what he was aiming for. The arm that was joined to Hazel's couldn't get that far without bringing Hazel's with it so it was just resting against the top of his knee.

"I'm sorry for..." Hazel began an apology, but then she remembered that Fourteen couldn't hear her. She leant in to remove Fourteen's earplugs, but the boy wrenched away from her, painfully twisting her arm in the process.

He obviously saw the pain on her face as he stiffened. His eyes flickered over to the assault that was about to be launched against Fifteen, and he sighed. Using his free arm, he took the mechanical ear plugs out of his ears.

"I'm sorry for deceiving you. Buy you came after me, so thank you. That was really brave and selfless." Fourteen's eyes welled up.

"You wouldn't be saying anything good about me if you knew about the incident." Hazel was going to comfort him, but then a big commotion happened over with the others.

Fifteen was now at the top of the mast, though Annabeth and Percy weren't too far away from them. Eight and Six had been give their weapons and were helping Frank and Jason to free themselves. Fifteen looked unsteady, his attention completely focussed on Annabeth and Percy.

That was why he didn't notice Jason flying up behind him. Piper raised the megaphone to her lips, and as her boyfriend managed to steal one of Fifteen's earplugs, she bellowed through it.

"Leo Valdez, stop resisting!" Fifteen stood perfectly still until Jason lifted him up, bridal style. Then he simply went limp, allowing Jason to fly them down to the ground, and for the older boy to handcuff them together.

Piper hastily dropped the megaphone as Annabeth and Percy fetched the kids and made their way over to Hazel and Fourteen (who's eyes had gone cloudy from the force of Piper's voice), and helped them up.

Everyone headed to the dining room, making use of the Leos' current compliance to get them to the room without any more resistance.

Then Hazel asked the kids a question that had probably been on everybody's mind.

"Where did you two get these handcuffs from so quickly anyway." Their eyes widened comically.

"Oh no!" Eight yelled.

"We left Hedge!" Six and Eight both raced from the room, and Hazel decided that it probably was best to leave that situation alone until they had dealt with the teens.

Annabeth un-cuffed them all, but the Leos were checked for any more weapons and the tool belt was taken away.

Nico's skeletal servants guarded the door, but Percy and Jason remained within arms reach of it. The second ear plug was removed from Fifteen just as the charmspeak began wearing off.

Fourteen reacted in a way that was almost completely unexpected. He burst into tears and buried his face into Fifteen's neck.

Fifteen's head also bowed.

"I guess you've got us then." His voice was dull.

"You did promise." Nico pointed out. Fifteen sighed.

"I guess that I did. Do you want to start or shall I?" He questioned Fourteen.

"You can." Was the muffled answer. Fifteen's eyes drifted around the room, but he refrained from meeting anybody's eye and refused to even glance at Piper and Jason who he knew to be his friends from his own experience.

"I've had an unusual childhood. After... after my mother passed away, I was bounced around foster homes a lot."

"We know this, Fifteen. Your older self has told us a lot about your life." Hazel thought that Annabeth's use of the word "told" was a bit misleading seeing as Hera had in fact shown them a lot of Leo's past, but she didn't comment on this. Fourteen raised his head in surprise, his tears slowly tapering off as he and Fifteen gaped at them.

"Even about... the Beasts?" This was Fourteen. They all nodded, and the drawing was placed on the table.

"We weren't told about this though." Piper pointed out. Nico seemed generally confused, and Hazel resolved to catch him up on the pertinent matters. She wouldn't tell him too much, she didn't want to break Leo's trust, but she would tell him enough for him to understand what was going on here.

"I guess I better tell them then." Fourteen's voice shook, but his eyes were steely. Fifteen nodded and stood up.

"I'll go check on the kids then..." Fourteen's hand snaked around his wrist and tugged him back into his chair.

"You're the one who promised to tell them, you can at least stay here for moral support."

"Lo siento (I'm sorry)." Fourteen released his wrist, and Fifteen leant against him in a physical sign of support. Hazel also heard him mutter "we're in this together" which made her smile.

"I didn't really like Beast and his gang. They weren't very nice people, but they offered protection so I stayed with them. It was better to be with them than against them, I even got that stupid tattoo to prove my loyalty to them." Here he pointed at the lion symbol in the picture which Hazel remembered being on Leo's foot.

"But I was never quite comfortable with them. They could be brutal, always picking fight with other gangs and I usually got into crappy fights because of it. I won most of them, but I got injured a lot. I wanted out, but I didn't know how to escape." Fourteen looked really sad, and Hazel desperately wanted to hug him. Fifteen was glaring at the picture on the table.

"The fights became weekly, then daily as they realised that I was _the_ member to fight. If they could take me out, they'd be pretty much golden. And Beast knew that I was planning to leave. I don't know how he knew, but he knew. And he arranged a little _meeting_ for me with some of the thugs after me. I didn't know that he was setting me up, I stupidly believed that he was just sending me on a run for alcohol or something." Outrage spread across all of their faces, which seemed to reassure the Leos slightly, as if it confirmed how they all cared about them.

"So I didn't expect to be dragged down an alleyway. They started attacking me almost instantly, all sorts of weapons. It was terrifying." Hazel moved over to them and hugged both Leos before sitting down beside Fourteen. She held his hand comfortingly, but Fourteen jerked when he looked won at their hands.

"Did I do that to your wrist?" His voice was choked, and Hazel gazed down at her wrist, surprised at the red mark that would surely blossom into a bruise if she didn't have any ambrosia.

"Oh, the handcuffs did that, not you." Fourteen's face crumpled.

"Why do I have to hurt everybody?" He murmured, and Hazel was overwhelmed by sadness. She remembered their own Leo saying something very similar, something about everybody he loved getting burned.

"This was our fault for forcing you into this. And it's just a bruise, ambrosia will fix it in a second." Fourteen didn't seem convinced, but he continued his tale anyway.

"I just fought and fought, I was like some sort of frenzied animal. I took them all out. But then the Beasts came. Beast himself was laughing about how he'd not only got me dealt with, but he could also organise an unexpected assault on the gang members who were assembled. The biggest gang who had flocked to the alley to beat up a Beast were the Demons. They hated the Beasts, and they had followed an anonymous tip off that suggested that a Beast would be on their own passing that alley. They weren't too bright, they didn't even consider the fact that it could be a trap. A trap with live bait." The last bit was tacked on darkly, and Fifteen's arm rested on the younger Leo's shoulders.

"They didn't exactly expect to find me standing bloody and somewhat beaten, but victorious. And I was still a little crazed. I lunged at Beast and another brawl started. And I fought dirty. Teeth, nails, elbows, all were used as weapons for me against their crowbars and lead pipes. I tugged hair, I went for eyes and I slowly descended into a red haze. When I came to, I was leaning against the wall, facing a scene like that." He gestured to the image on the table.

"As much as we disapprove of gangs and gang fighting, you were mostly defending yourself. I don't see why you were so terrified of telling us this." Frank sat down, as did Percy and Jason. The skeleton guards had long been sent away, there was no need to block the door anymore.

"That... that's not where the incident ends." Fifteen's voice was subdued, and he was once again facing down. He squeezed Fourteen's shoulder and whispered that he'd take over.

"I... I wasn't done there. I was fed up. I'd had a few different experiences with gangs before, but this was by far the worst. And I was furious. I had allowed them to mark me, to claim my very skin with a tattoo. But it wasn't just them that I was angry with. The other gangs had been going after me as well, and I was going to punish them all." Hazel shivered at these words, and Fourteen released her hand.

"That week was one of the bloodiest that I have ever experienced. I packed up and abandoned my foster home, I hadn't liked it there anyway. I was quite familiar with the gangs in that area. I knew which were bad and which were decent. So I tracked down the bad ones. And I fought them all as a warning. Any gang in that area would probably still remember me." They all stared at him silently.

"I didn't do any serious damage, but I wasn't gentle either. I didn't hurt the younger members, unless it was in the original fight. Yet I still hurt a lot of people."

"Damn." Percy whistled.

* * *

So now you know what that incident is, you'll just have to wait till next time to see how the others react. See you :)


	9. Chapter 9

I am really, really sorry about how late this is. I've fallen behind with all of my stories, and I know that I have no right to make excuses, but I kinda lost my muse for a little while. To make it up to you, this chapter will be longer than usual. I hope that you all can forgive me :( Oh, and at the bottom of this chapter there will be something I think you'll all be interested in so please read the bottom author's note. Thank you to anyone who faved or followed despite my remiss attitude. Warning for menion of gang violence.

Connwaer Heap : Don't worry, you didn't offend me. But don't judge the incident too quickly, the Leos are sneaky little devils and all may not be as it seems.

Neon Wish Likes Pine Trees : Meow :)

Cecld16 : Thank you, and you'll have to wait till the end to find out whether or not the original Leo will remember what had happened.

Zoethezany III : I'm honoured that you think I'm good enough to be your role model, I hope that I'm a good one:) And dam, I missed that opportunity!

Bluecookiedough : Poor Fourteen indeed. I'm glad that you liked the bonding moment with Hazel, I want to convey relationships between the Leos and all of the seven so I'm glad that it's working.

ObsessedwReading : Thank you :)

Melancholy's Sunshine : Depressing seems to be my speciality ;) Percy has a massive big brother complex, though the rest of the gang aren't much better with their older sibling tendencies so yes, Leo will most definitely be smothered. Leo's gay gang leading adoptive dads would not be happy with the Beasts. Not at all.

Lyra : I was, I was just stupid an forgot! Sorry, I'm usually quite good at remembering things like that. Hopefully I'll be able to remember in the future.

Lord of Potatoes : Oh no, this waiting session was even longer than usual, I haven't killed you have I? (Nice use of dam by the way).

The chosen sea's : Ooh, that might just happen in Reunions, thank you.

Saint-Less : Thank you, I'm happy to hear that you love it.

Killua minamoto : What was your idea, if you don't mind telling me? And yeah, it must be kind of humiliating for them, being shown up by two kids like that. The reactions are going to be very fun to write.

Sky-chan : It's fine, and I'm glad that you understand the motives behind Leo's actions, I was worried that everyone would think that I was making him seem a little psychotic when I really just wanted to portray how the situation wore him down until he snapped.

Ira-chan : Thank you, and don't worry, I've been on a zip line before. I've been really lucky and I've gone on lots of adventure holidays with school and with my old guide unit. I'm very happy that you liked the chapter and I hope that you like this one just as much.

Sidda : Ah, I do like Jeff, I just happen to like Leo better, sorry. And I would love to be Blaze's girlfriend :) And although he is a humungous troll, we cannot kill him for he was the one to gift us with Leo in the first place. It would be rude to kill him after he gifted us with such a precious being ;)

Kris Awesomeness : He shouldn't, but Leo has a habit of feeling guilty over stupid things.

Kaylee : Thank you, and here is the update.

Mystery : Thanks, and I hope that this chapter is worth the wait.

Sidda : I'm here, albeit very late. And I'm sorry but I don't have one :( I do like Jeff, I just love Blaze/Leo more, please don't hate me.

Disclaimer : If the series was mine then it would never end. There would just be endless Leo and Grover spin offs. I also don't own the video "Pink fluffy unicorns dancing on rainbows" (search it on Youtube if you want to watch it).

* * *

Frank's P.O.V

Frank was uneasy, and it wasn't just because of the information that they had just been provided with. The whole thing had just felt too ... he loathed to say easy - the splinters in his arms attested to just how difficult it had been to get to this situation - but that was how the ordeal felt.

After all of the fuss the Leos had put up, this whole thing seemed sort of anticlimactic. Frank understood that these Leos were younger than the Leo that he was used to dealing with, and therefore more insecure, but it still seemed like they had been overreacting a little bit.

And then it dawned on Frank why he was feeling uneasy.

"You're holding something back." Piper had evidently came to the same realisation as he had, but she had managed to say it just before he could. The Cherokee girl was squinting at the teens who both had their eyes trained on the ground.

Fifteen looked up, and although his mask was nearly flawless, the slight strain to his smile ruined his attempt at appearing innocent.

"No we aren't. We just told you the whole incident, wasn't that horrific enough for you?"

"You're lying." Jason spoke simply, his tone free of any accusation. Fourteen still tensed up. He looked up, eyes wild and fearful.

"Can't you just accept what we've told you? Can't you just leave us alone?" Fourteen snapped, practically reeking of desperation. Frank noticed the way Annabeth was giving the Leos a piercing stare, and he hoped that it wouldn't make them worry even more. Frank of all people could understand that violence was sometimes necessary, although he often resented his heritage he was still a son of Mars. All children of Mars had violence in their blood, even more so than any other demigod. War was in their nature, and even though Frank didn't embrace this as many of his half siblings did, he still couldn't deny that it was a part of him. Especially with the continued arguing of his father's split personalities in his head.

"We want to help you guys, to do that we must understand exactly what happened." Percy's voice held exactly the right amount of comfort and strength. Frank was amazed at how easily Percy and Jason slipped into big brother mode. Sure Frank felt a little protective of Leo normally, he had gotten a lot closer to the Latino after they had watched his memories, and he felt even more protective now that they had four younger Leos to deal with, but Frank doubted that he'd ever be a big brother in Leos eyes. He wasn't as strong as Jason and Percy and although he understood Leo a lot better now, Frank still wasn't very good at dealing with him. Maybe their personalities were doomed to clash, but Frank was still saddened.

Though if he couldn't be as good of a brother to Leo as Jason and Percy were, he'd just have to be a dam good friend to make up for his failings.

Frank focussed on the teens again.

A solitary tear had made its way onto Fifteen's face, and as Frank watched the single tear dripped down onto his collar.

"Fine, but when you know what we have done, please don't treat the kids differently. They don't know about this yet, and you can punish us for this however you want but please leave them out of it." His voice would have been detached if it wasn't for the note of pleading that rang through his words.

"We aren't going to treat any of you differently no matter what you tell us! You're our friend, and whatever you did in the past will never outweigh that fact." Hazel's words were heartfelt and Frank found himself nodding in agreement with his girlfriend.

"And we aren't going to punish you for something that you've been clearly punishing yourself for." He added. Fourteen's lost gaze fixed on him, and Frank shivered as more tears spilled over the younger boy's cheeks. Fifteen glanced at each of the older demigods, as if mentally assessing them. The Latino cringed away from Annabeth who was still glowering at him as if she was mentally dissecting him.

Frank was a little bit intimidated by the older demigod, she always seemed so intense and put together, but Frank knew that she was a good person and probably didn't mean to make Fifteen feel bad.

That was why Frank whispered that she should probably tone down the death glare instead of yelling at her to knock it off. Frank knew that the Leos were in a really bad emotional state right now, and they didn't need to be scared by Annabeth. The blonde girl looked at him in surprise before schooling her face into a more neutral expression.

"I wasn't glaring at them on purpose, I was just trying to figure out what they were omitting from their story." She murmured back, and Frank smiled to show that he wasn't judging her. To be honest, pointing it out was for her benefit as well as for the Leos, one of the reasons that Leo had always seemed to be distant from Annabeth was because of the disastrous Eidolon incident in which Annabeth had treated him as an enemy.

"We lost control of our powers." Fourteen suddenly blurted out. He then covered his mouth, eyes horrified.

" ¡Maldición! Couldn't you have softened that blow? (Damn it!)" Fifteen yelled at his cowering counterpart. A whirlpool of fear welled up in Frank's stomach. Of all of the seven, Leo's powers were the ones that most scared Frank. One single flame could take his life in seconds, turning his life force to cinders. Fire was one of Frank's biggest fears, even with his piece of wood safely stored with Hazel.

But this wasn't the time to dwell on that. Fourteen had drawn his legs up to his chest and was shaking on his chair. Leo feared his powers even more than Frank did, and these kids hadn't been convinced that their fire could be helpful yet.

Fifteen was shooting panic filled gazes at Fourteen, the older demigods and the door. Frank shifted so that the younger boy's view of the door was obscured, hopefully preventing an escape attempt.

"How?" Annabeth's voice was calm, and this eased a little bit of the tension in Fifteen's shoulders. Fourteen withdrew even more, however.

"I was finally leaving the stupid place. All of my stuff was packed into my backpack and I had taken out most of the most dangerous gangs. I thought that my message would have been heard loud and clear by all gangs. But apparently Beast was too dumb to heed the warning." A stifled sob echoed from Fourteen, and Jason sat down by him, pulling the crying Latino into a hug. Fourteen struggled, but Jason restrained him gently until the young boy collapsed onto his shoulder, still sniffling. Frank marvelled at how easily Jason had gotten fourteen to accept his comfort. Frank could only assume that Fourteen was too exhausted to put up more of a struggle. The world had not been kind to the son of Hephaestus and he probably needed this hug desperately.

And then Frank realised that Fifteen could probably use some mental fortification as well. He shifted round and laid a (hopefully) comforting hand on the kid's shoulder.

"At the outskirts of town I stopped and turned around to have one last look at the hellhole of a city. I was met with a crowbar to the face." Everybody winced.

"Luckily it didn't do too much damage as it only glanced me, but it still split my lip and caused a small fracture in my cheek. Spitting blood to the side, I tried to make out my attacker. It was Beast. He was still bearing some evidence from the alley brawl, but that wasn't the worst thing. The look in his eyes was crazed. I had single-handedly ruined the Beast's rep, no one wanted to deal with the gang whose rogue member had attacked, and defeated, all of the worst gangs in the city. That meant no illicit alcohol trading, no secret weapons dealing and no one would warn them if news of a police crackdown got out. Beast wasn't too happy about this. And he intended to make me feel his unhappiness." Fifteen shifted the tiniest bit into Frank, and Frank took this as a sign to step up his comforting duty. He slipped his arm around the boy, and although Fifteen remained mostly unresponsive to this action, Frank felt him lean back ever so slightly.

"We sparred for a bit, but I was mostly testing the waters. I knew that I could take him out, I had taken out his entire gang before, but I was unsure as to whether or not he had anymore weapons. If he did then it could have turned nasty really fast. Instead it turned out terribly because he didn't have another weapon but he did have a picture." Fifteen choked on a sob here, and Frank gave in to his desire to just embrace the Latino properly.

"Although I didn't really like the foster home that I had been in, I couldn't forgive what had happened to them. We were both a little bloody when he whipped out this picture. They had... they had..." Fifteen broke off here, tears cascading down his face. Unexpectedly, Fourteen picked up the tale in a monotone voice that grated Frank's ears with its falseness.

"The Beasts had attacked the family that I had been staying with. The picture was of them after the assault. None of them were dead but they were all pretty banged up. I had refrained from attacking children. They had not. One of my foster siblings had been eight." Frank heard his fellow demigods gasp, and when he looked up he saw that both Piper and Hazel were crying. Percy's eyes also looked suspiciously misty, while Nico had slunk back into the shadows, his eyes glowing with misery and an understanding that sometimes life just wasn't fair.

Frank pushed down his own sense of sadness. He needed to be strong for the distraught past Leos.

"It was all my fault! Once again I had gotten people hurt. Sure I hadn't really like them, but I hadn't wanted them to get hurt either!" Fourteen virtually wailed this sentence, his tone shifting from monotone to pure distress, before shrugging Jason away. Small tendrils of smoke rose from his hair, and Frank prayed that they naturally died down. If Fourteen noticed them in this state then it would make him even more upset.

"I looked up from the picture, and I was beyond angry. Those cowards had attacked innocents to get to me. I was even more furious than when I had been attacked in the alley, because at least I had been attacked because I was associated with a gang. That poor family had been attacked solely to get to me." Fifteen hiccupped through another bout of tears.

"That was when Beast started staring at me in terror. I didn't understand why until the picture in my hand began to burn. It burned swiftly, and I dropped the ashes which scattered into the wind. And then I looked into Beast's eyes. I could see from my reflection in them that I was haloed by fire, and small flames crackled over my hands. I looked like a monstruo, like the diablo that my aunt called me. And at that moment, I felt like it as well, I felt like some sort of wrathful demon. I had the power to exact vengeance for what he had done to me, my foster family and the other people that his gang had terrorized." Fourteen halted here, his voice raw and etched with agony. It was obvious to all of the demigods that he regretted these feelings, that this incident had emotionally scarred him. No wonder he had been acting like such a brat, the poor kid sounded as if he despised himself.

"He fell to his knees then, watching me with unadulterated terror. And then one of the sparks from my hand managed to catch onto his sleeve. It went up in flames, and for a moment I just watched. I thought that maybe he deserved this for setting me up and for harming civilians. But then I regained my senses. I yelled at him to stop drop and roll which he did, but he was already burnt. It was only first degree, the flesh didn't even blister, but it was still a burn. It was still a sign that my powers are demonic, that all they are good for is hurting people. I ran then, leaving him behind to gape at me in fear. Leaving him to his petty world of gang fights and violence. I never looked back to see if he was alright. And I can't say that at that point I truly cared if he was." Fourteen drew in a deep breath. Then, both he and Fifteen pulled away from the older demigods who had been comforting them. It seemed as if a bit of their bitterness had returned as they looked at the older teens with both regret and stubbornness.

"Still think that you wont ever treat us differently, that your opinion of us will never change?" The words held so much emotion. It was obvious that Fourteen intended for them to be mocking, but his terror of being rejected echoed clearly in the words.

"I think that we all can agree that this changes nothing." Frank's eyebrows almost obtained orbit as he realised that Annabeth was the one to say this.

"How? How can you say that? We just told you about how much of a monster we really are. Why would you still accept us?" Fifteen's voice held less emotion than Fourteen's, but Frank assumed that this was more because he had had longer to perfect his controls rather than an actual lack of emotion.

"You say that you didn't care if he was okay at first, but if you truly didn't care then why are you beating yourself up over it? If you sincerely believed that you did nothing wrong than why were you so desperate to keep this from us?" Piper's voice was steady as a rock as she looked both Leos square in the eye. The Leos seemed shocked by this outlook, and they turned to each other, holding a silent conversation as they mulled over these questions.

"You guys seriously don't think that we are monsters?" Frank's heart shattered at the fact that the teens sounded so much like neglected children at this point.

"Of course not. We love you guys." Hazel stated this simply, and Frank was proud of his girlfriend for putting so much conviction into this confession. Apparently this was exactly the right thing to say as the Leos once again broke into tears, but with watery smiles shining through. True smiles.

This beautiful bonding moment was interrupted by Coach Hedge's booming voice.

"I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU LITTLE CUPCAKES, DON'T THINK THAT I WONT JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE ONLY PINTSIZED VALDEZS!" Giggling accompanied these casual death threats, and it was getting closer. Percy rolled his eyes, waiting behind the door or a few seconds before opening it quickly and pouncing on the giggling baby Leos.

"And what have you two been up to?" Frank stifled his own laugh at the fact that Percy sounded exactly like a mother who had to deal with rambunctious children regularly.

The kids eyes surveyed the room as they dangled in Percy's grips, and their eyes swiftly alighted upon the teen Leos who were wiping away the last of the tears.

"Is everything okay now?" Six asked, his voice quavering slightly, his face worried. Eight looked equally concerned until the teens flashed them reassuring smiles.

"It would be if the Coach wasn't threatening to murder you. What have you done?" Eight and Six exchanged perfectly innocent smiles that didn't fool the demigods for a second. Frank had to give them props for effort though, they might have been able to pull off their angelic double act if it wasn't for the fact that Coach Hedge had already labelled them as the perpetrators, and even if he hadn't they still would have been the main suspects.

They all filed out, apparently they were all harbouring the desire to see what the little pranksters had done to the Coach.

As the satyr had been ordered to keep the kids in the games room, it was there that everyone headed. Six and Eight had seemingly given up on proclaiming their innocence, they were now just sniggering in Percy's arms.

Jason was first to reach the games room, and so he was first to witness whatever had happened to Coach Hedge who was still bellowing out threats and punishments that ranged from a thousand pushups to a whack from his cudgel.

The son of Jupiter instantly burst into laughter, which really heightened Frank's urge to see what was going on. If it got _Jason_ \- one of the more reserved demigods - to laugh so unabashedly then it must have been pretty funny.

It took a little shuffling for all of the demigods to make their way into the games room (though they thankfully avoided getting caught in the door cartoon style) but when they were all able to see Coach Hedge, they were able to understand Jason's mirth.

The Coach had been handcuffed to one of the shelves that held up numerous games that had either been generously "donated" by the Stolls (who had generously "liberated" them from numerous game shops) or actually bought by Piper and a few of the other demigods. While the games themselves probably weren't heavy enough to prevent Hedge from ripping it away from the wall and storming after the mischievous imps, the shelf had been fitted with heavy metal slots in an attempt to prevent the games getting damaged in the case of an attack. These combined with the weight of the actual shelf and its fixings to the wall had been pretty effective in keeping the raging goat man immobile.

At one point during his babysitting duties, Hedge had clearly fallen asleep. This fact was attested to by the handcuffs (which explained how the kids had been able to produce them so quickly in their scheme to take down the two older Leos) as well as the make up that was liberally painted over his face. Hedge was sporting two very red cheeks, neon pink lips, a generous coating of eyeliner and orange eye shadow.

His horns had been painted red with lipstick and they were covered in orange sequins and gems. He looked like a make up bomb had exploded in his face and this was the outcome, random shades and smudges all over his face.

To top this of, the huge television screen that dominated the room was playing Pink fluffy unicorns dancing on rainbows repeatedly. A mirror had also been affixed to the screen so that Hedge could admire his new look.

"We were going to make you pink and fluffy, but you have two horns so you can't be a unicorn." Six actually had the gall to sound disappointed about this, causing Coach Hedge to grind his teeth together menacingly.

"Did you go rifling through my makeup?" Piper's tone was dangerous, and Frank heard Six and Eight gulp nervously, their giggling trailing off abruptly.

"Well, we were bored and we wanted to know what was going on but we were stuck on the boat while you looked for Fourteen. You shouldn't have ditched us." Eight voice quaked a little as Piper's full glare was directed at him. And then it was replaced by confusion as Piper began to laugh again.

"You really are pain in the butt little brothers." The children sent her a tentative smile.

Coach Hedge growled.

"Instead of blabbering on about how brotherly they are, why don't you get me down from here so I can whack 'em good and proper in payment for this?" Percy fixed hedge with a small glare.

"No whacking the kids Hedge."

"Not even a little bit?" Although his tone was a little disappointed, Frank knew that Hedge would never harm the little Leos. Even if they really had outdone themselves with this little scheme.

"Not even a little bit." Annabeth reaffirmed for her boyfriend. Coach Hedge grumbled as Eight cheerfully produced the key needed to release Hedge from his cuffs.

"You little cupcakes are lucky that I'm not allowed to whack you demigods." The satyr harrumphed as he stormed out of the room to wash away all traces of the kid's mischief.

Everyone began to file out again, and Frank was about to depart when a hesitant hand snagged his wrist. As he turned to see what was up he noticed Fourteen talking quietly to Jason and Hazel in one corner of the room. He wondered what that was about but shrugged it off in favour of finding out who was trying to get his attention.

It was Fifteen, a shy smile on his face as he shifted awkwardly, one hand gently preventing Frank from leaving the room.

"Thanks. You know, for before?" Frank felt a smile creep onto his own face in acknowledgement. He hadn't thought that the distraught teens had paid much attention to who exactly was comforting them, but here was Fifteen thanking him for it, and Frank assumed that Fourteen was thanking Jason and Hazel similarly.

"No problem. You looked like you needed a hug." Frank bit his tongue then, realising that these words may have been too blunt, but to his surprise, Fifteen snickered softly.

"I suppose I did." Frank basked in the happiness radiating off of Fifteen. He was proud of making the younger teen laugh.

"I have a question for you though." Frank hummed to show that he was listening.

"Would the Coach really hit one of us?" It was Frank's turn to giggle.

"Hedge may not look or act like it, but from what I can tell he is really just a big softy. He cares for all of us, though I think that he has a bit of a soft spot for you, Jason and Piper."

"Why?" Fifteen inquired, shifting inwards so that he could hear more. The other three left the room, Fourteen clapping Fifteen on the back playfully as he exited, jauntily humming about pink fluffy unicorns.

"Apparently he was sent to retrieve you three and bring you back to the Greek camp. He was captured though and Annabeth fetched you. then you three went on a quest to rescue Hera and on the way you managed to find him. He accompanied you to the end of the quest and was volunteered to be our chaperone on this quest." Fifteen's eyes were wide and Frank expected to be bombarded by tons of questions so he held up his hand to stop the barrage that was about to batter him.

"I'm not the best person to ask about this. If you want to know more then it's probably best to ask Piper or Jason." Fifteen nodded thoughtfully.

"Thanks." He proclaimed again, and Frank nodded in acceptance of the other boy's gratitude.

He didn't expect to be yanked into a quick hug, the flame wielder's warm arms twined around his shoulders in a brief hug.

Fifteen flushed as he withdrew, muttering a quick bye before scampering after the others who were once again holding a meeting in the dining room, this time to discuss some of the things that the four Leos may want to know about what was going on.

Frank felt an even brighter smile than before creep upon his face as he watched the current oldest Leo dart down the corridor towards the dining room, his cheeks red and tiny flames creeping over his nose.

Maybe Frank would have to rethink his stance on whether or not Leo would ever be able to see him as an older brother.

With this thought cheerfully bouncing around in Frank's brain, the son of Mars followed after the fiery Latino.

General P.O.V

A snarl could be heard as a cruelly beautiful goddess eyed these events from Olympus. She glared down at the demigods who had been her main source of entertainment for a short while. With her sister's meddling, she had expected the demigods to turn upon the four young versions of her nephew.

She had expected glorious conflict to arise, both mentally and physically. Her eyes narrowed as she honed in on the smiling bunch gathered in their pathetic meeting room. The war that was playing out within the heads of her fellow Gods could not satisfy her lust for fighting.

She would have to throw a spanner in the works, cause some strife between these puny mortals.

A wicked smile spread over her lips as she noticed the innocent, untainted child that the brats were calling Six.

"Oh he will do. He will do nicely." Her cackles rang around her room as she planned her beautiful mental war against the seven.

After all, Gaia would reward her greatly if she managed to tear the seven apart, staring straight with one of the most important members. her devious grin grew even wider.

Oh yes, Gaia would be very pleased with her work.

* * *

I am once again very sorry for how late this is. I do bring you something interesting though. Otaku1325 sent me a link that I think you should all check out. **/p/dreamworks-disney-to-make-a-percy-jackson-and-the-olympians-heroes-of-olympus-cartoon-tv-series-tvpercy**. I put the link in bold for you. I'll see you all next time :)


	10. Chapter 10

Oh no, it looks like poor little Six is in trouble! Whatever shall the demigods do, and what does this new Goddess want with Six? I guess you'll just have to wait and find out J Thank you to everyone who faved or followed.

Bearah cubecars : Heehee, you'll find out soon enough.

Melancholy's Sunshine : It would be hilarious if he didn't remember and he is just randomly accosted by hugs whilst some of the others take to camping out wherever he chooses to sleep. Can you imagine him waking up to see Frank, Percy, Nico and Jason all hovering over him?

Zoethezany III : Sadly the cliffhangers are permanent fixtures in my fanfictions, no amount of shooing can get them to leave ;) And I hope that you enjoyed the link.

Connwaer Heap : I'm glad that you understand, just think of it as the Leos' last ditch attempt to prevent the others finding out about the worst part of the incident. And the identity of the Goddess will be revealed this chapter.

Alvin6299 : Thanks, and I hope that you enjoy this chapter.

PhilyraRaven : All will be explained J

Sidda/Phoenix heart : I guess it was a little bit similar. And I love Blaze as well. I keep meaning to watch Hetalia but I've never gotten round to it. Oh, and I'm not sure if I can get you in this story, but you will be in one so keep your eye out ;) And, oh no! Did Jeff kill Leo? And lemons probably aren't a good idea if you're twelve…

Kris Awesomeness : Is that a good reaction or a bad one?

Cecld16 : I was tempted to have him kill someone, but I think that if one more person lost their life due to Leo's flames then I don't think he would have been able to cope. It would have been more dramatic but I just don't think that Leo would have recovered from it.

Skyfir3S4kur4 : I'm glad that you're so happy (the Physician's cure works wonders). Though I made you sad again straight afterwards J And I'm glad that you have stuck with this story despite my erratic schedule, it's always nice to see a reviewer who I feel like I've gotten to know through my fanfictions.

L120Writer : Thank you for reading and for saying that I understand what Leo is about. I'm so happy to know that you think I portray him well, I love his character so much and I'm honoured that you think I get him.

ObsessedwReading : Thank you, I love writing Frank/Leo bonding as they could get on so well if it wasn't for the Hazel tension and Leo's powers. I'm glad that you enjoyed it.

Matt : Uh-oh indeed, it looks like someone has set her sights on poor, little Six.

Guest : I am never going to give up on any of my stories no matter how long it may take me to update so don't worry.

Disclaimer : For some strange reason, the rights to own HOH have not been sent to me yet. How weird is that?

* * *

Annabeth's P.O.V

Annabeth really hoped that they would get their Leo back soon. She thought that it had been bad enough keeping tabs on just one hyperactive pyromaniac Latino. Now she was seriously reconsidering the meaning of hell. They'd only been here for a day and one of them had already tried to run away. It was going to be a nightmare keeping track of them all.

At the moment everyone had gathered in the dining room. Sleeping arrangements had already been settled, but the little Leos may have some questions for the older demigods. They were obviously going to try and avoid subjects that would scare the poor kids.

She was glad to see that Fourteen and Fifteen had cheered up a bit. After everything that they had confessed to, Annabeth had been worried that they would be withdrawn or overly emotional. But Fourteen was smiling more than he had in all the time that he had been on board.

Fifteen was chatting with Six who was giggling crazily. Piper and Hazel (and Annabeth was pretty certain that Percy had the same expression) were staring at them dazedly, clearly thinking that Six's laugh was adorable.

It was then that she realised that Eight was sitting by himself at the end of the table. His expression was not sad but he definitely wasn't happy either. He looked more as if he was in a dream, lost to the world. It was so unlike any normal Leo that Annabeth found herself walking over to him.

Gently she nudged Eight's shoulder, hoping to snap him out of this state. The child jumped, and then flushed when he noticed the older girl. He flashed her a sheepish smile, hand rubbing the back of his neck.

"Are you okay?" The boy lowered his head in a quick nod.

"I'm fine, I was just thinking." Annabeth smiled softly. It was probably a good time to start the meeting.

"Okay everybody, listen up. If any of you Leos have any questions then now is the time to ask them." Looks like Percy had the same idea as he stood up and moved to the head of the table. Annabeth smirked at the slightly frustrated look on Jason's face as Percy took the lead. Their rivalry wasn't dangerous anymore, in fact it was sort of cute the way they had a brotherly rivalry.

"What monsters have you fought?" This was Six, and expectant look of excitement on his elven face. Annabeth noticed the way Percy was taking a deep breath, ready to start on his long list of vanquished monsters, and decided to intercept before he took all day on just his list.

"We've fought the Titans, the Minotaur, the Furies, Charybdis and Scylla, Polycrustus, Ares and many others." Six's eyes were wide and Annabeth could tell that he was going to request extra detail, so she held up her hand.

"If we described every fight that we've been in then we'd be here all day." Jason nodded at her; after all, he had been in just as many battles.

"Can I go to bed now?" Annabeth felt her brow furrow in confusion. She didn't expect Eight to get tired so quickly, even with all of the excitement that had occurred earlier. Apparently her friends were confused as well as they just gawked at the child.

The young Leo wiped his eyes tiredly, and yawned as if to accentuate his point.

"Sure, if that's what you want. Six, do you want to go as well?" Six pouted, but then he studied Eight and nodded enthusiastically. Annabeth was slightly concerned that they were planning another trick, but Eight looked sincerely exhausted so she let it go.

"Come on, I'll show you to the room where you'll be staying." The youngest demigod got up to follow her. Six even laced his tiny hand together with hers.

Annabeth found herself smiling warmly as she led the two boys to Leo's room.

However, when she opened the door it was almost apparent that the room wasn't suitable for two young children.

Parts and shards of metal lay all over the floor, along with half-finished machines that were scattered over the beds. Annabeth was about to suggest that the kids share a spare room like their older counterparts when Six squealed and launched himself at one of the more complicated piles of gears.

"I thought that you were going to bed now, not tinkering with your older self's messes." Six's head whipped round.

"What do you mean mess? This is awesome!" The Latino child sounded outraged. Eight rolled his eyes and swept the majority of the cogs off of the bed before clambering onto it.

"Do you have the clothes that we were bought earlier?"Annabeth shook her head.

"No, I'll go and get them." She left quickly and both boys muttered thank you, distracted by their individual projects.

She returned after fetching the shopping bags that had been labelled "Eight" and "Six". Surprisingly, the little Leos hadn't moved much. Six was still playing around with the small pile of parts on the floor whilst Eight was sprawled out on the bed, fiddling with a thin collection of wires. They both looked up and smiled when Annabeth entered.

The bags were handed over and Annabeth stepped out whilst they changed into their pyjamas. A messy head of black hair popped out.

"Are you going to be reading us a bedtime story?" Annabeth froze. She had never had to tell a child a bedtime story to help them sleep before. But she couldn't say no to an adorable little Six who was wearing Iron man footsie pyjamas.

"Sure." Six beamed and tugged her inside. Eight was already tucked up in bed, the duvet reaching up to his chin. Six scrambled up to join him and there were a few minutes of fidgeting whilst they tried to get comfortable. Once they were finished and gazing at her expectantly, Annabeth sat down on the end of the bed.

This was a new area for her, and she desperately racked her brain for a suitable tale to tell the child Leos.

Eventually she settled on an idea about a dragon, Leo loved dragons.

"Once upon a time, in a land faraway there was a beautiful dragon named Festus. But this was no ordinary dragon. This was a bronze dragon." Both of the kids' eyes had lit up.

"Like our Festus?" Annabeth nodded, and Six's smile grew.

"Now, this dragon may have been one of the most glorious dragons in all of existence, but he was still a very lonely dragon. You see, he was the only bronze dragon, and as such the other dragons shunned him for being too unique." Twin sets of chocolate eyes were riveted upon her; the boys were seemingly enthralled with her tale despite the fact that Annabeth was basically stealing plots from numerous novels.

"So every day, the poor lonely dragon flew all alone. The sun would glint of his stunning metal back, but he was unable to feel its warmth like the other dragons did. And every day he would find a remote spot in the nearby mountains to curl up and contemplate just why he had been born so different. But one day… well, one day Festus met a very special boy." She could see the tiny fists clenched into the sheets with anticipation, and felt a gentle smile creep onto her face.

"This special boy's name was Lion. Lion was a very hyperactive boy, and he was also very, very clever. He was sitting up in the mountains because his friend's from his village were unable to play with him on that fateful day. When Festus saw the boy sitting in his usual spot, he was angry and scared. He thought, who is this human, come to laugh at me for being a freak." Eight wiggled around a little bit.

"Freak's not a nice word." He muttered. Annabeth placed a hand on his head and ran her fingers through his static collection of curls. She repeated the motion with Six. The two boys shuffled so that she could sit in between them, though they were still wrapped up in covers. They each lay their heads on her lap, shimmering brown orbs looking up at her.

"Well, Lion thought that as well. In fact, Lion thought that Festus was amazing. You see, Lion loved dragons and he loved machines, so Festus was like a combination of his two favourite things. So when Festus settled down on the ground, instead of mocking him like all the other dragons and humans did, Lion ran up and introduced himself." Annabeth noticed that the boys were beginning to look increasingly drowsy, so she decided to wrap the story up.

"On that day, Festus and Lion became the best of friends. It no longer mattered what anyone else thought because Festus had the best friend ever. Lion and Festus became incredibly close, and together they embarked on many wonderful adventures. But those adventures are a story for another night." Eight was fast asleep; his head nestled into Annabeth's hip. She thought that Six was also unconscious so she gently disentangled herself from the children and slid off the bed.

"Machines and dragons aren't my favourite things." Six muttered exhaustion evident in his voice, along with the contentment of a child about to drift into slumber.

"My mami is my favourite thing." After this line was spoken, a soft snore slipped out of Six. Annabeth felt her eyes well up at that innocent confession. Six still thought that his mother was alive, and clearly still adored her.

"I didn't think that you were one for making up stories, Wise girl." Annabeth jumped slightly, hastily removing any lingering trace of tears from her cheeks. She hadn't heard Percy enter the room, and she had been so caught up in telling her tale that she hadn't seen him either.

Her boyfriend evidently had not caught Six's last utterance.

Spinning around, Annabeth sent Percy a hesitant smile. His eyes were locked fondly on the boys in the bed who had scooted over in Annabeth's absence to curl up together like young puppies.

Then his eyes met her's. He frowned .

"You okay?" Annabeth moved away from the bed, grabbing Percy's wrist and tugging him into the hallway so that they wouldn't disturb the snoozing Leos.

As soon as they were out of the room, Annabeth span on her heel and virtually launched herself into Percy's arms. She could almost feel his surprise; she wasn't one of the most physically affectionate of people so this was probably slightly out of character.

"They are both so young. And Six is so pure, so innocent and sweet yet Eight has lost his mother. What are we going to do?" Percy sighed, holding her closer.

"There's nothing that we can do about the death of Leo's mother. It happened a long time ago. But we can be here for all of the Leos, and for our Leo when he gets back to normal. And we just have to protect Six from that knowledge." Annabeth chuckled.

"I think I might have to start calling you Wise boy instead of seaweed brain." Percy laughed as well, under his breath so as to not stir the children.

"That would really confuse the others." They both pulled away from the hug, and Annabeth grinned.

"Well I guess we better head back and see what's happening with the teens. Percy agreed, and they headed off to the dining room.

They spent a few hours in there, filling in the older Leos with the most relevant information that they needed right now. Hazel and Frank went up on deck to keep watch.

Suddenly, the door was flung open. All of the demigods tensed, hands stealthily reaching for unconcealed weapons.

Six was doubled over, panting, frightened tears sliding down his cheeks. A piercing scream could be heard from the other side of the boat.

"It's… Eight!" the child gasped out and all of the demigods launched themselves out of their chairs and hurtled towards the room where Eight had been staying. Annabeth swept Six up as she passed, holding the trembling child to her chest.

She could feel her top becoming damp with tears, and her level of concern rose. Reaching the hallway in time to see Piper flinging the door open, Annabeth put on a burst of speed. She almost tumbled as she skidded into the room to see all of the demigods crowded around a screaming Eight's bed. They were trying unsuccessfully to wake the distraught child up.

Shifting Six to her hip, Annabeth charged forwards.

"Guys, give him some space. If he wakes up to all of us gathered around him then he'll panic." Her friends all moved back, but they remained hovering in the room. Annabeth gently put Six down, and the boy darted to the door where he hovered anxiously.

Fifteen joined Annabeth, frantically trying to wake up his younger counterpart. Fourteen was attempting to comfort Six.

Unexpectedly, Eight lunged upwards, whimpering and sobbing. Fifteen pulled him into his arms and began muttering to him in Spanish, but the kid was still freaking out.

Fifteen's dark eyes snapped up and met Annabeth's.

"You all need to leave now." He hissed lowly, and Annabeth nodded, dumbfounded. She gestured to the others and they all piled into the hallway.

Fourteen had picked up Six and brought him into the hall, but the youngest demigod squirmed out of his older counterparts arms and raced away.

Jason went to follow, but Fourteen held him back.

"He's never seen a nightmare like that before. Let him have some space." The blond demigod nodded, but Annabeth could see that he still looked as if he wanted to sprint after the terrified child. Muted wailing could be heard from behind the door, and all of the demigods flinched.

Fourteen sighed, leaning against the wall and placing an arm over his eyes.

Hazel stepped forwards and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder as the crying from inside Leos room intensified.

Annabeth was horrified that this had happened. When they had watched Leo's memories they had all seen that Leo had been miserable after the loss of his mother, but this was up close and personal. This wasn't just a memory, this was an actual child Leo sobbing from a nightmare.

The door suddenly swung open and Fifteen exited, holding a drained Eight in his arms. He sent them a look that broke Annabeth's heart before he set of in the direction of the engine room. Evidently Eight needed to calm down and working on a ship like the Argo would definitely distract the boy.

Fourteen trailed after them, leaving the older demigods behind feeling helpless.

If there was one thing that Annabeth truly despised (beside Hera and spiders) it was feeling helpless.

So she decided to take action.

"I'm going to look for Six." Piper turned to her.

"Fourteen said that we should give him some time." Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Fourteen doesn't understand the danger of living on a ship like this. Six is only little and he might get hurt." The others exchanged a look.

"Fine, if you want to go and find him then go and find him." Annabeth nodded, spinning on her heel and striding away. She didn't understand why the others were unwilling to look for the boy with her. She ignored the niggling voice in the back of her head that complained that maybe her friends were right not to look for him at this moment. She shoved that voice down as far as she could, surely it would be better to track down the child before he got in to trouble.

Annabeth decided to try the deck first, and she increased her pace as she fixed a plan into her head. Annabeth always worked best when she had a plan.

Reaching the stairs, she hopped up them two at a time, unsure of why a bubble of fear had settled in her stomach.

The reason for her fear was revealed to see an unknown woman with her arms tightly wrapped around Six, one hand clenched over the Latino's mouth.

Her wicked eyes latched onto Annabeth's, and Annabeth felt a bolt of true fear flash through her.

"Annabeth Chase. You have brought me much amusement child. I'll see you again soon sweetie." Sarcasm oozed from the last word, an Annabeth shivered, a familiar feeling of hate and anger rearing up inside of her.

She didn't have time to analyse why the feeling was so familiar, she simply lunged forwards in an effort to save Six from this evil looking woman. But it was too late, the woman disappeared with Six still in her clutches.

Annabeth felt her knees hit the deck harshly, her sword falling from her hand.

Six had been taken.

* * *

So here is the tenth chapter of Knowing Leo. I hope that you enjoyed it and I'll see you soon :)


	11. Chapter 11

So Six has been kidnapped, Eight has just had a nightmare and Annabeth is becoming a mother bear whose cub has been taken. Yay. Oh, and I'll explain my choice of the goddess' identity at the end of this chapter. Thanks to everybody who faved or followed, and an extra special thanks to Otaku1325 for helping me out with the Spanish.

Skyfir3S4kur4 : I'm happy to hear that you love it, even though I'm cruel and have forced you to wait so long for an update.

Lyra : Percy and Annabeth's children would be terrifying. The personality of Percy combined with Annabeth's intelligence. *shudder*. And I'm going to try and remember to call you Lyra, but I have a terrible memory so...

Lord of Potatoes : I think that I might have to take you up on that, I've been awful with updates lately.

L120Writer : You're welcome, and thank you for your review. I hope that this chapter will be slightly longer, and I'll hopefully keep it to the same standard. And I will continue to write even if it is more sporadically.

Kris Awesomeness : Yep, Annabeth's inner mother bear has been awakened. All monsters who intend to threaten Leo should beware the wrath of an overprotective horde of demigods.

Calefe : Thank you, I'm glad to hear that you think that I'm getting his character right.

Red Raven05 : Hehe, you'll get the answers to your questions this chapter. And I'm sorry for taking so long.

Melancholy's Sunshine : Oh yes, there is going to be a lot of very angry, very dangerous demigods going after him. If they are bad when normal Leo is hurt, think of what they will be like if Six gets injured.

Connwaer Heap : You'll find out this chapter :)

Zoethezany III : I don't mind that your not logged in. And is she does anything to Six then there will be Hades to pay. Do you think that Annabeth should tell more stories?

Faltercloud : Thank you, I'm happy that you think my story is amazing.

Florence23 : Poor Leo, I do enjoy hurting him.

Sidda : No, I suppose I don't own you. Or do I? ;) And that makes me feel sad, as Leo teaming up with Blaze would have been amazing (if terrifying). And I do plan to watch Hetalia at some point, I just have a lot of other anime to finish first.

Killua minamoto : Well if you remember then feel free to tell me. And, yes, it has been quite a while. I loved writing the little story so I'm glad that you enjoyed reading it, and you'll see what happens to Six this chapter. I'm sorry for making you wait so long, my schedule has just been everywhere lately.

ObsessedwReading : You'll find out if what you hope for comes true this chapter :)

OtakuNewWorldOrder : I really do have a habit of making people cry. Though as it's because you think that it was cute then I guess it's not a bad thing.

Koolkat0207 : Poor Six indeed. And I'll just have to wait and see if I can change your opinion on Fourteen :)

Koolkat0207 : I did enjoy writing chapter 6, so I'm happy that you thought it was a good chapter. And to answer your question, because I am evil and like to see my favourite characters suffer :)

Disclaimer : Yeah, still not mine. Yes I'm still sad about this.

* * *

Piper's P.O.V

A scream of pure rage radiated from the deck, and the demigods all looked at each other in shock and horror. The scream had sounded like Annabeth, and Annabeth wasn't one to make a sound like that without good reason.

That thought was enough to force Piper and the others into motion. Their feet pounded on the wooden floor as they hurtled towards the deck.

They reached the open air just in time to see Annabeth bury her head in her hands, sobbing wholeheartedly.

Percy was first to reach the distraught daughter of Athena, practically sliding across the floor before thumping to the ground in front of her.

"What's wrong Wise girl?" His voice was frantic, and Piper felt her worry slide up a notch as Annabeth's hands clenched, knuckles white and almost straining against her skin with the force of the fist she was making.

"She took Six!" Piper felt paralysed with horror, a chill colder than Khione's magic sweeping down her spine. The youngest, purest, most vulnerable Leo had been kidnapped.

"Who's this she?" Jason's voice was stern, but Piper knew that he was just trying to cover up how worried he was about the child version of his best friend.

"I don't know." The anguish in Annabeth's voice was almost painful. Not only had she apparently witnessed Six be taken without being able to stop it, she also didn't know who the perpetrator was which must be making it even worse for her.

"What the hell is going on?!" Piper whirled round to observe the other Leos skidding up top, and almost falling into pile in their haste.

Fifteen's eyes were wary, and Piper didn't blame him. Since the young Leos had been on-board, so many things had gone wrong and Fifteen was trying to be the responsible Leo in order to look after his younger selves. The poor kid must be exhausted and just anticipating the next problem.

Fourteen was holding Eight whose head was buried in the shirt of his older self, still in his pyjamas. Piper felt a pang as she realised that Six was in pyjamas as well, wherever he was. At least his ability would stop him getting too cold, as the flimsy material of his pyjamas wouldn't block out the chills nor protect him from whatever this mysterious lady was planning on doing to him.

"Six has been kidnapped." Percy was probably aiming for a matter of fact tone, but the hitching of his breath belied any sense of calm leadership that the older demigod would otherwise be radiating.

Fourteen blanched, subconsciously holding Eight tighter. Eight's head also rose, and his tear streaked face now had a look of utter terror.

"But... but he's only little." His voice trembled and it felt like a punch in Piper's stomach. All of these Leos were too little, even Fifteen. For Hades sake, even the modern Leo was too young to be dealing with everything that he has to handle. Everything that he had had to handle in the past as well.

Although Piper was concerned about those two, Fifteen was the one whose reaction was the most worrying.

His head was angled downwards, hair flopping over his face and flames almost forming a crown around the dark curls.

Then he was looking up and his eyes held a determination and darkness that struck Piper to the core. Fifteen was deadly serious and also terrifyingly furious. Of course, they were all furious, but there was something incredibly dangerous radiating from Fifteen at this moment.

"Of course Six has been kidnapped. As if we didn't have enough to deal with." His words were laced with sarcasm. Everyone was now openly assessing the oldest Leo, yet he didn't seem to care.

"Six is in trouble, must be Tuesday." Fourteen mumbled, clearly trying to ease the mood with a quote. Suddenly, Fifteen's blazing eyes were turned on Fourteen.

"Now is not the time to be making stupid references! If anything happens to Six then we might never be able to become our real age again. We might not be able to be fixed. Instead of making stupid jokes you should be thinking of ways to track him down!" Fifteen turned and stalked downstairs, smoke curling behind him in an almost taunting manner, beckoning them to follow the enraged demigod and confront him for his harsh words.

Fourteen was left looking shell-shocked and seemed to be on the verge of tears. Eight was crying again, though his sobs were silent.

Piper felt the situation beginning to overwhelm her. Six was missing, Eight had just had a horrible nightmare, Fourteen had been chewed out for no real reason and Fifteen was flipping on his allies. It was a hellish situation.

"Ignore him Fourteen, we'll sort him out later. The immediate problem is Six." Jason advised as Percy pulled Annabeth to her feet gently.

"It's probably best if you tell us what happened." Hazel voice was fraught with worry, hand tightly laced with Frank's. Usually Piper would have been happy to see romance between her shipmates (though she would never admit to such a thing), but despair over the situation overcame even her ingrained Aphrodite-esque instincts.

Annabeth began regaling what she had witnessed. When she got to the part about the massive wave of hate and anger, the colour drained from Frank's face.

"That sounds kind of like the effect that my dad has on most people." Percy nodded, but Piper frowned.

"Annabeth said that it was a woman." Annabeth wiped the tears from her cheeks, eyes vacant for a moment. And then she gasped.

"Enyo.* Sister of Ares, Goddess of strife. She's must be the one who took Six!" The knot in Piper's stomach got worse.

"A Goddess of strife... how are we meant to find a Goddess of Strife?"

"We don't have to track the Goddess; we just need to track Six!" Frank exclaimed. They all turned to stare at him, baffled, and then Annabeth's eyes lit up.

"The trackers!" Fourteen raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't you only put trackers on me and Fifteen?" All of the whole demigods shifted awkwardly, and Eight proudly displayed the tracker on his skinny wrist. It had previously been covered by his sleeve.

"When we made them for you and Fifteen, we agreed to put some on ourselves so that we don't get lost." Fourteen's mouth tipped up wryly.

"Well I guess your over protectiveness is going to come in handy. Eight, where is the locator?" Eight wriggled out of his grasp and padded over to the computer.

"We hooked them up to the computer whilst you and Fifteen were too busy taunting the others." Fourteen had the grace to look embarrassed, but only for a millisecond.

"Wait, we need a plan for when we discover his location." Piper stared straight into Annabeth's eyes.

"We go in, we kick that hag's ass and we rescue Six." Percy and Jason looked at her approvingly, but Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"We can't all go." Everyone instantly began clamouring about how they wanted to go.

"Right, if Percy goes then Jason can't. Neither should Nico or Hazel. Only one child of the Big Three should go or else there'll be anarchy." The four children of the Big Three all glared at each other.

"It makes the most sense for me and Hazel to go. That way there'll be no rivalry and there will be two children of the big three present." Nico's words made sense, but that didn't stop the sadness that crossed over both Percy and Jason's faces at the realisation that they won't be able to go and help Six.

"Fourteen should come. Who knows what's going to happen to Six? He may need his help." This was again accepted by the demigods.

"Piper and I should probably stay and try to figure out what's up with Fifteen." Piper turned to glare at her boyfriend, but his idea was logical. Her hands clenched into fists, but she nodded in acquiesce.

"Frank, do you think that you'll be less affected by Enyo's aura than the rest of us?" Frank shook his head, eyes dark.

"It will probably make my war like instincts act up, especially if I'm with a Leo. No offence." Fourteen waved this off, and Annabeth nibbled her lip contemplatively.

"Three is the best number for demigod quests; shouldn't Nico, Fourteen and I be okay?" Hazel looked incredibly nervous, and Piper's heart ached for the younger demigods who were being sent off to face a Goddess of strife.

"Well, we could send Hedge…" All of the demigods considered that option for a moment. Images of a crazy satyr under the influence of a war Goddess made them all shiver in unison.

"We can handle it." Nico stated firmly.

"But Fourteen hasn't had any training." Fourteen shot Annabeth a dark look at that statement.

"I can handle myself in a fight."

"Yes, but can you handle yourself when you're up against monsters and a Goddess." Annabeth probably didn't even mean to sound condescending, but Piper could see Fourteen bristle at this perceived patronising.

"I'll be with Nico and Hazel. We'll be fine." Piper was amazed at this statement. Fourteen, the Leo who had been the hardest to deal with, apparently trusted Hazel and Nico. She wondered if this was due to the resolution of Nico and Fourteen's argument and how Hazel had comforted him during the retelling of the incident.

Eight turned towards them and gestured towards the blinking red dot that indicated where Six was located.

Piper observed as Nico studied the flashing symbol intently. He then nodded.

"Fourteen will need the tool belt if he is coming. You should fetch it from Fifteen before we leave." Piper inhaled deeply.

"I guess that is our cue." She slid her hand into Jason's and tugged him towards the lower decks.

The first place that they checked was the engine room, the area where Leo naturally gravitated when he was upset. But there was no sign of Fifteen, and Piper had to wrack her brain for other places that Fifteen could have gone to.

The deck was out as that was where they had previously been gathered. And Piper didn't think that the Parthenos would draw Fifteen in the same way as it drew older Leo.

Her thoughts flashed back to the memories that they had watched, and she instantly span around, pulling Jason with her.

"The training room!" Luckily her boyfriend caught on to what she was saying, they didn't have much time to waste. Six was in danger, and his situation was growing more and more precarious with each second lost.

As soon as they arrived at the doors, Piper was almost knocked over by a wave of heat.

She exchanged a troubled glance with Jason as he carefully nudged the door open.

Fifteen was pacing up and down, similar to the way he had been pacing when Fourteen ran away.

However, this time the heat was incredible. Piper felt sweat immediately begin beading one her forehead. She wiped it away absent-mindedly as her eyes remained glued to the boy in front of her, his body cloaked in flames that thankfully weren't reaching the floor.

He was also grumbling under his breath, but Piper couldn't make out any of it.

"Fifteen?" Jason called tentatively, and the younger boy pivoted around. His eyes were hard and angry, and Piper found herself recoiling.

"What?" He spat, and Piper's hand once again found her boyfriend's. Fifteen noticed the gesture, and an expression close to a snarl crossed over his tanned features.

"Come to flaunt your relationship in my face, right? Just leave me alone. Go and pander to the younger versions of me." Jason's hand gripped her own with more force.

"Geez Fifteen, what in the name of Hades is going on?" The Latino's glare intensified.

"Just tell me what you want and then leave me alone." Piper desperately wanted to sort out whatever was going on with her little brother figure, but Six's situation was the more pressing matter.

"We need the tool belt." Piper knew that her tone was blunt, yet she was hoping that the fact that she had refrained from using charmspeak would remind Fifteen that they were his friends.

Fifteen scoffed, and his hand drifted to his tool belt.

"Why?" His tone was insolent as he moved back, putting distance between himself and the other two.

"Fourteen needs it to help save Six." Piper loved Jason, she truly did, but at that moment she just wanted to smack him. Fifteen's eyes turned even harsher, but he undid the belt and chucked it to Jason anyway.

"So you're trusting him with it now, after he ran away once already? Great plan." A spark of irritation flared in Piper's gut.

"Apparently unlike you, Fourteen recognizes how important it is to get Six back. If you want to stay in here and sulk instead of talking to us, whatever. But don' try and turn things on Fourteen when you are being the difficult one here." A slight flicker of hurt in Fifteen's eyes caused Piper to regret her words, but they had been stalled here long enough.

They would return after seeing the others off to check up on Fifteen.

Nico's P.O.V

Nico had been pleasantly surprised at Fourteen's willingness to head on this quest with him and his sister.

It seemed that they had really made an impression on the fire wielder. And Nico was secretly delighted to have the other boy trust him after the argument that they had had. Though this was muted by the fact that Six was missing and Fourteen was about to be dragged on a dangerous quest to retrieve him. Plus, even though Nico had been the one to suggest that Hazel come along, he was worried about her as well.

She was his only true family and he wanted, no, needed to keep her safe.

Nico tuned in to the conversation after that grim thought. The others were giving Fourteen some quick advice about monsters and Goddesses. Nico prayed that they wouldn't have to fight any monsters, a Goddess was already a huge challenge.

Though Fourteen was taking the information in well, and Nico was reminded that the boy had confessed to previous fighting experience. They wouldn't be totally throwing him in at the deep end with no experience at all.

It was quite tense as the Fourteen year old Leo was given this quick talk on just how dangerous Enyo really was. Nico felt admiration for the fire user, although he was a lot paler than usual, his eyes held a steely sense of resolution.

Coach Hedge had been fetched and filled in about the situation. He was currently munching a can as he created more and more creative threats for the lady who had endangered on of his charges.

Eight was sitting a little further away from the group of older demigods, and Nico felt himself drawn over by the plainly miserable face.

The child looked up at Nico's approach, and his eyes were filled with despair. It made Nico sick to see such an expression on the usually gleeful face. The nightmare before had been bad enough, this little Leo looked about ready to curl up in a hole and disappear.

"It's my fault." The kid's voice was filled with muted horror, and Nico instantly knelt down to comfort the boy. Sure, he wasn't the best at dealing with emotions, but even he couldn't help hugging the boy in an effort to console him.

"Why would you think that?" The boy shuddered in his arms.

"If I hadn't had a nightmare then Six probably wouldn't have ran off."

"How did you know that Six ran off because of your nightmare?" Nico held the warm body as it trembled.

"Because he was so scared. His instinct when scared is to run away from the problem." Nico hadn't know that that particular characteristic had been ingrained even from the early age of Six. He mused silently about whether or not the others were aware of this, when his mind was brought back to his duty to Eight by a quiet hiccup.

"Eight, if Six was truly a target for the Goddess then she would have gotten him one way or another. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that we're going to get him back one way or another. I swear to you that we will bring him back." Nico just about held himself back from making an oath on the River Styx. He was tempted to, but oaths were a tricky business and Nico wasn't sure how wise it would be to engage in one.

He was sure that his words would ring true though.

Eight's tiny face was staring at Nico's, as if it would divulge the level of honesty behind Nico's words. At that, Nico's defence crumbled.

"I swear on the River Styx that we will bring Six back." A crack of thunder on an otherwise clear day signified Nico's oath, and drew the attention of the others whose eyes swivelled to Nico instantaneously.

Nico ignored them in favour of smiling softly at Eight. The young fire demigod hugged him again, his warmth matching the warmth in Nico's heart.

"Thank you."

"We've got it!" Piper bounded up from the lower deck. Jason followed behind her, clutching the tool belt and staring up at the sky suspiciously.

Fourteen took the tool belt when it was proffered, gaze serious as he knotted it around his waist.

Nico stood up, hauling Eight with him. He gently deposited the no longer crying child in Percy's arms. The son of Poseidon instantly cuddled the child close, and Nico had to smile at the big brother instincts displayed by Percy. It was ironic really, considering that Percy's dad had made a pact to have no more children, a pact that meant Percy would probably never have and actual demigod blood sibling.

Then he took a deep breath to steady himself. As a chorus of good lucks rang out, he stepped forwards and grasped the hands of Hazel and Fourteen (they had explained shadow travel and its effects along with the monster fighting advice) and the shadows absorbed them.

They were spat out in front of what looked to be a war museum. Both Nico and his sister cringed away from the museum dedicated to the memory of World War Two. Fourteen shot them a concerned glance (though his face revealed hints of nausea) and Nico simply muttered that it was a long story.

They all stared at the museum.

"We should have guessed that a Goddess of war and discord would enjoy a museum dedicated to one of the worst parts of human history." Hazel stated bitterly. Nico drew his sword, and Hazel followed his example. Fourteen fumbled around in his tool belt before pulling out one of the hammers that normal Leo used as a weapon.

Cautiously, the trio entered the building. Despite the fact that the sign clearly said 'closed', the door was unlocked. Nico suspected that Enyo was looking forwards to a confrontation with the demigods.

The museum was filled with all sorts of artefacts from the time of the war, ranging from army uniforms to weapons. Nico loathed to be in such a place, although his memories of his past were fuzzy, he vaguely remembered the terror as the war began.

They ventured further into the museum, all the while keeping an eye out for monsters. As they got deeper into the building, the demigods became aware of a terrible sobbing. Nico shot a quick look to Fourteen who nodded grimly.

The sobbing was Six, or at least it sounded like him.

Nico was aware that a cyclops could easily be mimicking Six in order to lure the trio into a trap. And damn was the method effective. Nico could already see Hazel wavering, clearly wanting to ditch their stealth in order to check whether or not the heart wrenching noises were coming from six.

He caught her free hand with his own, squeezing it in a (hopefully) sign of solidarity. Fourteen seemed to be straining to hear the cries properly.

"If that's an impersonation then it's pretty impressive." He stated darkly. Nico just motioned that they should continue walking towards where the sound was coming from.

They reached the end of a long corridor and were left standing in front of a set of double doors that must have lead into an education room.

Steeling himself, Nico checked to make sure that the other two were ready. They had no idea about what they were going to face when they got into this room.

Once they were all ready, Nico swiftly opened the doors, and the three of them dropped into defensive crouches. Only, nothing attacked them. Nothing happened.

For a moment, Nico was thrown of guard. Then Fourteen was at his shoulder.

"I can't sense any mechanical traps. Though that doesn't mean that there aren't any magical ones." It was at that moment that their eyes were drawn to the figure sitting on the floor and watching a huge projector screen.

Six was rapt with attention, not even turning around to see who was entering the room. His tiny body quaked and quivered as the sound of his whimpering echoed around the room.

"Six?" Nico tentatively edged into the room. As the trio entered, the screen grew louder. Nico could hear Gaia, taunting someone. Beside him, Fourteen's breath caught. He then swore emphatically.

"¡Esto no suena nada bueno, absolutamente nada bueno! (This doesn't sound good at all, absolutely not good at all!)" Fourteen's eyes appeared abnormally wide, and he was blinking rapidly.

All of a sudden, Six whirled round. His face was more furious than even Fifteen's had been before, and his eyes were reddened from crying.

Nico looked at the screen, and it was as if all of the breath had left his lungs.

Eight year old Leo was on the screen, and he was standing off against Gaia. The camera panned to a beautiful Latino woman who was trapped behind the warehouse door. Her eyes were wet and she was quietly repeating apologies to her son. Gaia and eight year old Leo could be heard in the background.

Fourteen's breath hitched, and Six's eyes had turned back to the screen.

"Six, you shouldn't watch this!" Hazel pleaded with the child, but he didn't even turn around.

"¡Ya cállate! I've already seen it.(Just shut up already!)" Six barked, eyes swivelling back to the son of Hades and the daughter of Pluto.

Fourteen had staggered over to his younger counterpart, eyes still on the screen. He reached an arm out to comfort his child self, but Six darted away.

On screen the terrible event had played out. Leo's mother had burnt to death as a result of Gaia's attack. The memory started over, as if on loop, and Nico realised with a mounting sense of dread that Six had most likely been watching this over and over again since he had been taken.

"¿Por qué no me dijiste? (Why didn't you tell me?)" He wailed as Fourteen also began weeping.

And constantly behind them, the film showing his mother's death played on.

* * *

So what will Nico and Hazel do next, and just what is up with Fifteen? You'll find out next update.

* This is probably going to cause some controversy so I thought I'd explain it here. Ares is occasionally pictured as having a twin sister, either Enyo or Eris. In some interpretations, Enyo is Ares wife and the mother of Eris, but in others they are one and the same. As Rick Riordan had Eris being a daughter of Nyx, I decided to have Enyo as the twin of Ares. This may no be completely correct, but it fits with certain interpretations of the myths so I'm sticking with it.


	12. Chapter 12

Hello everyone I'm feeling kind of proud that I've updated most of my stories recently, so here is Knowing Leo to continue that update streak.

Connwaer Heap : Nope, everyone must be miserable ;) I'm glad that you think my writing is realistic; I would hate to write something that could never, ever happen. And I'm not sure on Nico's exact birthdate, but I think that he was born sometime in the early 1930s, so I think it is possible that he saw at least the first year of the war.

Kris Awesomeness : Nico might tell him, he wants to help Six in any way possible so that would make sense. And everything I write seems to have yaoi undertones whether I'm aiming for that or not. I'll give you the rusty spoon if you need one, and I'll help you hold her down if you want?

Melancholy's Sunshine : Yep, things are going pretty crazy. About Six's instinct to run away, I feel that maybe even before his mother's death this could have been an issue. Some children always to choose the flight option instead of the fight option. Maybe it wouldn't have been to such an extent when he was younger, but he could still run away when things get tough, like if he had an argument with his mum for instance. However, the impact of some memories may have bled through; you'll just have to see as the story develops.

Guest : Ah, thank you. I hate making silly mistakes like that, so thanks for pointing it out so I can remember it for next time.

Beautiful Blobby : Thank you, I hope that you enjoy the rest of the fanfiction.

Lyra : I can understand the bobby pin and the rusty nail, but what are you going to do with the pizza and the penny? Hide the penny inside the pizza so I choke? Poison the pizza? If so, can I have a chicken and sweetcorn pizza if it's going to kill me?

Zoethezany III : Yeah, why not? I'm happy that my plot twist got you, it's fun to shock people

Skyfir3S4kur4 : Teehee, I can hear the screaming from here. And I do it because I have no other choice, I must write angst. It's in my blood. I'm glad that you think that the chapter was good, and there is an explanation for Fifteen's behaviour in this chapter.

Neon Wish Likes Pine Trees : Meow meow.

Sidda : I really want to watch Hetalia but I never have the time and I have a load of other animes to finish first. And I have read Magnus, Hearthstone is just my precious child. Have you read it? I'll listen to that song; I love songs that give you feels.

RedRaven05 : Whoo, I'm glad that I didn't disappoint. And that was probably one of the worst ways that Six could have found out about his mother. Nico and Hazel really have their work cut out for them getting him back safely.

Disclaimer : Was there a de-aged Leo in the actual books? No? Well it wasn't my work then.

* * *

Jason's P.O.V

Jason hated the fact that he couldn't help rescue Six, but he and Piper had their own Leo to deal with.

And Jason had a niggling doubt that Fifteen's behaviour may have a more insidious reason than him just being fed up with the situation.

As they headed back to the training room (leaving the others behind to try and cheer up Eight) Jason grabbed Piper's wrist gently to halt her for a moment.

She gave him a quizzical glance.

"Enyo is the Goddess of strife, right?" Piper's eyes widened in horrified understanding.

"Oh Gods!" Her pace increased, and Jason quickened his own steps, overtaking his girlfriend as the true implications of Enyo's possible influence rampaged obnoxiously through his head.

He flung the door open, half expecting Fifteen to still be pacing around like his animal namesake, or at the very least beating the stuffing out of one of the training dummies. Possibly with the training room burning to cinders around him.

What he didn't expect to see was Fifteen sitting on his heels and hunched over, hands clasped over his ears.

Piper pushed him into the room lightly. He heard her quick intake of breath as she observed the distraught image in front of them.

"Oh, Fifteen." She breathed. The Latino's hands pressed even harder against his ears, then he seemed to change his mind and looped his arms over his head instead. Jason took a cautious step towards him, but was stopped in his tracks when Fifteen threw up a hand and a trail of flame snaked out in front of him.

"Don't." His voice was rough, hoarse as if he had been crying or, screaming.

"Fifteen, we think that we know what's going on. Enyo is influencing you." The boy's trembling arms dropped to his sides, and he rose slowly from his position on the ground.

"Really? I'm being influenced? Has it not occurred to you that I might actually be legitimately angry?" Jason once again tried to move towards the younger demigod, but this time the flame snake curled around his body, not quite touching the skin but close enough that he couldn't move without singing the hair off his arms which were now pinned to his side.

"Fifteen, don't you think that it's weird for you to go from acting pretty reasonably to lashing out in a matter of minutes?" Piper's voice was soft, though her eyes darted between the flaming circle of death that was looped around Jason's body to the son of Hephaestus who had put it there.

"Yeah, it's not like I have a reason or anything. Six has been kidnapped, and what do you think the goddess of strife is going to do to him?" Jason froze.

"What do you think she's going to do to him?" Leo barked out a laugh, full of venom.

"She's going to tell him about mom!" Jason's guts twisted unpleasantly and he was almost overcome with nausea.

"W-what?" He managed to choke out. Fifteen drifted over to one of the training dummies. Then his fist lashed out, flames following his fingers to leave a smoking hole in the middle of the dummy's chest.

"What better way to cause strife on-board the Argo at the moment then by setting the Leo's against each other. She's targeting Six because he'll be easy to make angry." The flames around Jason seemed to be burning hotter as Fifteen's rage rose, and he shifted uncomfortably as the ring of heat around him intensified.

"And she's targeting you because you are the most responsible Leo." As soon as Piper said this, the ring of flames constricted slightly, and Jason let out a startled yelp as the flames licked at him. He wasn't burning properly, but his arms were starting to go red.

"Fifteen!" Piper yelled, and Fifteen's eyes turned towards him, almost lazily.

"Move anymore Jason, and you'll be toast." The pun was tossed out lazily, and Jason witnessed the annoyance creep onto Piper's face.

"Fifteen, will you just let him go?" Despite her irritation, Jason could tell that Piper had refrained from using charmspeak.

Their usually impish young friend sighed dramatically and waved a hand in the air (probably more for effect than a need of the motion) causing the flames to disperse.

Jason glanced down at his arms, noting that although they were quite red, he hadn't been burnt in a single place.

"¡Nadamas déjame en paz! (Just leave me alone!)" The tanned demigod turned around and walked over to the dummy that he had punched previously. He clicked his fingers, and flames sprang up all over the straw creation. Jason wasn't sure of what Fifteen had said, but he got the message that Fifteen was feeling very friendly right now.

Jason watched, stunned, as the face of the dummy smouldered. It looked like some creature straight out of Tartarus. And as the flames climbed, Jason swore that he could see a beautiful woman smiling cruelly. Her eyes locked onto his and her grin widened before she winked and disappeared.

If Jason had had any doubts that Enyo was behind all of this then they were erased by actually seeing her evil smile in Fifteen's fire.

"Please listen to us." Piper came to stand by Jason's side, sliding her hand into his.

Fifteen stood motionless, back to the couple, bathed in the glow from the flaming dummy.

"Why should I? Why should I listen to you? Yo soy la tercer parte que no es necesario. (I am the unneeded third part.) You don't really care about me. I'm just an inconvenience, that annoying friend that you have to put up with." Jason's heart clenched. He'd forgotten that Leo had ever felt this way as they had resolved it after watching his memories. But this Leo hadn't been there for that, and he therefore had all of the same issues that Leo had possessed in the past.

"You aren't an inconvenience, Fifteen." Fifteen span around, and Jason actually took a step back, alarmed at the glowing red eyes currently replacing the normal chocolate orbs. What alarmed Jason the most wasn't even the fact that Fifteen's eyes were red; it was the shade that scared him. Occasionally when Leo got really emotional, or was really concentrating on his powers, his eyes would get a warm reddish tint that was only visible in certain lights and at certain angles. This red was pure scarlet, the colour of spilled blood. Enyo's influence was physically manifesting.

"Cállate! (Shut up!)" Fifteen's chest was heaving, and black smoke formed a demonic parody of a halo around his messy curls as small flames flickered into existence.

"You don't need to pander to me like I'm one of the little brats. I'm old enough to understand that you just pity me. I want you to stop. Stop pretending to be friends with me."

"We aren't pretending!" Piper almost wailed this statement. Jason pulled her closer, hoping to comfort her with their close contact.

Bad move. Fifteen's eyes zeroed in on their linked hands. He sneered.

"Sorry lovebirds, why don't you take your PDA elsewhere? I sure as hell don't want to see it."

"You say that you aren't one of the little brats, but your behaviour sure contradicts that." Jason looked to the doorway in confusion.

Annabeth and Percy were standing together, eyes analysing the scene swiftly, almost as if they were preparing to go into battle.

"Weren't you two with Eight." The oldest demigods strode into the room. Fifteen's eyes darted between the two couples warily before his face shifted into an angry snarl.

"Frank and Coach Hedge are taking care of him. So what's going on here?"

"Great, two more dummies have joined us." Jason's eyes snapped over to his older friends to see how they would react to this. Percy grinned slightly, but the expression was tempered by the worry in his eyes. Annabeth frowned, and then sized Fifteen up.

"So Fifteen is under Enyo's influence." She summarised a horrific occurrence into one concise sentence, Jason would have been impressed if he wasn't trying to gauge how far gone Fifteen was.

The scarlet eyes twinkled.

"Let's see just how many dummies I can set on fire."

Hazel's P.O.V

The awful video continued playing in the background as Six glared up at Fourteen, eyes filled with a maelstrom of dark emotions.

"Six, we wanted to protect you." Fourteen reached out for his younger counterpart yet Six dodged once again.

"Don't touch me, monstruo!" The child yelped as he scrambled away. Fourteen's face was at first hurt, but then it changed. Fourteen now appeared devoid of all emotion.

"Six, no version of you is a monster." The child's frantic eyes turned towards her, and the daughter of Pluto shuddered at the desolation in them.

"Nosotros la matamos, es completamente nuestra culpa. (We killed her, it's completely our fault.)" The Spanish words held a frightening depth of emotion, but Hazel wasn't certain on their meaning.

Fourteen was shaking, head down.

"I should leave." Before Hazel could say a word in protest, Fourteen bolted out of the door.

Hazel looked over at her sibling.

"Hazel, would you go after him please?" Hazel hadn't expected that, Nico and Fourteen had seemed to get closer, and Hazel had just assumed that Nico would want to go after him and leave the child to her.

"Are you sure?" She didn't know why she was so doubtful, she had gotten closer to Fourteen as well, but she couldn't figure out why Nico would choose to comfort a child rather than the teenager that he knew how to deal with.

Though, even with these reservations, Hazel was going to trust her older sibling.

"Okay. Take care of him." Nico nodded, and Hazel darted out after the errant teen Leo.

She found him hunched over further down the corridor his breathing was erratic, but thankfully he seemed to be restraining his panic and not on the verge of a panic attack.

Sliding down to the ground in front of him, Hazel did her best not to hover too much.

"Do you want to talk?" Fourteen shook his head. They remained sitting like that for a few minutes, before Fourteen sighed shakily and hauled himself up.

He offered her a hand, and Hazel graciously accepted it.

"Let's just focus on getting Sic back to the ship." Hazel agreed, but when they got back she was definitely going to try and help Fourteen.

They got back to the room with Nico and Six.

The child was enveloped in her older brother's arms, and as she got closer Hazel could hear that Nico was telling Six about how his mother and sister had died.

The little boy was still crying heavily, though he appeared to be comfortable being hugged by Nico.

"Bravo, little demigods, you've done such a great job of looking after your de-aged friend." The sarcasm buzzed in her ear, grating against her emotions. Irrational anger filled her, and she felt an ugly snarl forming on her face.

These Leos had been nothing but trouble since the split, always running off and freaking out on them. Just like regular Leo, they had to make everything difficult.

No! Leo wasn't like that. He tried just as hard as everyone else, maybe even more so.

Hazel reopened her eyes, though she wasn't sure on when exactly she had closed them.

Nico appeared dazed, holding his head with one hand. Fourteen was on fire, and had moved so that he was standing as far away from them as possible.

Six was also covered in flames, and he was staring at them in horror.

"No, no, no, no." He whimpered.

Hazel's eyes were then drawn to the Goddess. Her black hair fell in a waterfall to her waist and her eyes glowed red. Painted red lips twisted into a monstrous parody of a smile.

"Hello darlings." She simpered in a sickeningly sweet voice. Then, all pretence of friendliness dropped from her lovely face. Hazel drew her weapon in sync with her brother. The Goddess laughed. The sound in itself was like an attack, and Hazel could feel a frenzy working up inside of her. She clamped it down, tightly.

"Oh yes, please unsheathe your weapons. You're going to need to defend yourself very soon." She laughed again before disappearing. Hazel glanced over at Nico in surprise. Why would they need to defend themselves if the Goddess had disappeared?

Hazel's question was answered when Nico's eyes widened. Then her brother launched himself at her, bringing her to the ground painfully as a fireball shot itself over their heads.

They both leapt up and looked at the two Leos. Their eyes were red and filled with an indescribable rage. Fire coated them from head to toe, like a flaming coat of arms.

In each tanned hand, was a fireball.

Hazel gulped.

* * *

Well, I think that's a good place to end this chapter I'll see you all soon and I hope that you liked it.


	13. Chapter 13

This chapter is going to be full of angst so prepare for the sadness! And, I'm so sorry for how late this is but I've been really busy with college work lately. I'll try my hardest to get everything updated, but you may have to wait a while, sorry.

Skyfir3S4kur4 : I do this because I must And I'm glad that you understand my need to write angst. Don't worry about how cruel you are, I murdered a dog in Learning about Leo so I think I take the cake.

Melancholy's Sunshine : I love the thought of Percy and Annabeth going into parent mode and forcing the Leos into time out. And I'm going to use that Percy idea; I hope that you don't mind. The thought of it makes me giggle.

Koolkat0207 : I'm sorry if you don't appreciate the cliffhangers, but I'm happy that you think it was really good.

Maddie 'Tea Lover' Hatter : Thank you! I was really worried about introducing another new Goddess as I wanted to do justice to her and her myths while keeping her in line with Riordan's style.

Myah Castel : No, Leo doesn't mention gangs in the book, but I feel like he's the unfortunate person who would end up getting dragged into them somehow. I'm glad that you like Six mostly speaking in Spanish. And yes, Eight is the Leo just after his mum died, and he does need help as well. I wish that Rick had written more about their pasts, he could have done so much to expand them.

Connwaer Heap : Enyo chose the Leos because Leo is one of the most important people on the quest, which isn't just fangirl bias, someone (I can't remember exactly who, I think it was Gaia) actually says that without Leo the quest will fail. Plus, as he has been separated, he is the most vulnerable, especially with the ages that are present.

Neon Wish Likes Pine Trees : Thank you, I'm glad you liked it.

Guest : Thank you

Kris Awesomeness : I do like slash, but I don't really want this story to be a romance, so I'm probably just going to keep it as bromance (though my bromance always seems to be borderline yaoi anyway…). I'm glad that you think I'm doing well though.

Sidda : Hearthstone is such an amazing character! He's just so adorable. And a lot of my friends are bi or gay. I would have to save Leo, as much as I like Nico, Leo is my favourite character and I love him too much to actually let him die. And for my question, what other fandoms are you in? I already know Hetalia and HOO, but I was wondering about some of the others.

Coffeeaddict91 : Hehe, I love cliffhangers. And I'll try to update as quickly as possible.

Zoethezany III : That is perhaps the oddest Christams greeting that I have ever received Though merry (late)Christmas to you to. Please don't strangle me, I have too much to do, read, write etc. Plus, if I die, this story would end on that cliffhanger. You don't want that.

MakaylaCO : Ah, that is not the end, don't worry! I still have quite a few things left to do in this story before it's over.

Lady Aoi-chan : Wow, thank you for your beautiful review. I'm so happy that you like it (despite the silly errors). Leo is definitely my favourite character which makes it so much easier to torture him And if you are cruel for hurting him, then at least you aren't alone in your cruelty. I'm going to finish my stories no matter what so thank you for your patience. I love you too; I love all of my reviewers. Plus, it takes a lot to make me uncomfortable so you are going to have to try a lot harder than that.

A23 : Here you go

Guest : I'll try my best to update more often.

Disclaimer : I can only dream of owning a series as amazing as HOH.

* * *

Percy's P.O.V

Dam, this situation didn't look good at all. Fifteen had gone full pyro, hands twitching in a demented manner.

Percy knew the four currently sane demigods could probably handle Fifteen in a fight, but they would have to hold themselves back so that they wouldn't seriously hurt their friend.

Fifteen didn't seem to be thinking on the same line of not trying to maim his friends, swiftly launching a fireball at Annabeth who threw herself into a sideways roll to avoid the attack.

It was then that Percy realised his stupidity. He could control water; if he could get enough water in here then he could put Fifteen out and stop his most dangerous attacks.

His eyes drifted shut as he called out to the sea. It was always an incredible feeling, the tug in his stomach that he always got when using his powers.

And then a harsh blast of air blew him over. Sea green eyes snapped open as a torrent of fire torched the wood right where he had been standing.

"How stupid do you think I am?"

Percy hauled himself up, darting forwards to stand beside Jason who was staring mournfully at their flaming friend.

"Thanks for the save, bro." Jason sent him a distracted smile, eyes glued to Fifteen as Piper and Annabeth launched an attack that had to be quickly diverted due to the wall of fire that appeared around the boy.

The girls were now on opposite sides of the room, with the boys standing by the door.

Percy noticed a glimmer of excitement in Piper's eyes as she opened her mouth, and Percy guessed that she was going to attempt charmspeak as the ear plugs were nowhere in sight.

Unfortunately, Fifteen also noticed this.

Piper easily leapt over the flames sent her way, which put her right in the path of Fifteen's fire-powered fist.

Jason yelled out and Percy's grip tightened on his sword, but it was too late. Fifteen's use of flames to propel his punch caused Piper to fly into the wall with a loud slam. Her hair trailed behind her as she crumpled, clearly unconscious.

Percy could see the barely contained fury on Jason's face, and quickly placed a hand on his shoulder.

"She'll be fine. And remember, this isn't Fifteen's fault." Jason's teeth gritted and a flash of red crept into them. Percy had the sinking feeling that Enyo had planned this out even more than they had anticipated.

Because if Jason fell to her influence as well, then things would get a hell of a lot worse.

He put more pressure on the younger boy's shoulder.

"Jason, don't fall to her influence, she…"

"Am I interrupting some bromance over here?" Leo had somehow moved to stand right behind them. Annabeth was watching them, wide-eyed, flames in front of her mouth to prevent her from calling out to warn the boys.

"Jeez guys, don't let your impending fiery doom stop the conversation. I can wait." His hands were shoved casually in his pockets, flames casually winding around his body.

Percy shared an anxious look with Jason. The taunting was very in character for Leo, but the darker elements such as the lazy flame trail kinda threw off the effect.

His crimson eyes also spoiled the effect somewhat.

But he wasn't attacking. The fire around crackled suddenly flared up. Warm brown fought for dominance against the red.

"Guys…" His voice was hoarse. Tears filled the multi-coloured orbs.

Percy's big brother instinct kicked in hard, and he lunged forward in an attempt to comfort him.

The eyes stopped flickering and red overtook them again. Percy was met with a foot to the stomach. He was sent back, but Jason caught him before he was knocked over.

A plan slowly formed, one that his wise girl would be proud of. Speaking of his wise girl…

"Any chance of you releasing Annabeth, Fifteen?" Those bloody eyes locked onto Percy's.

The boy shrugged.

"No can do Aqua man. I want her to keep her know it all mouth shut." Percy could see Annabeth on the edge of his peripheral vision, expression hurt.

"Fifteen, why are you doing this?" Percy knew that it was Enyo's influence that was causing Fifteen to act so erratically, but he needed to rile him up further if his plan was going to succeed.

"Why? Because I'm mad. Why else?" Percy rolled his eyes.

"That's a pathetic excuse and you know it." Jason turned to him and Percy prayed that his friend would catch on. The heat around them intensified.

"What?" The voice was a low hiss, filled with danger. Percy tried not to think back to all the fights that they had seen in Leo's memories and what Fifteen and Fourteen had told them about the Beasts. Fifteen looked as if he could take down an entire town full of gangs right now.

"You're not that mad. You're just letting yourself be controlled by Enyo. Kinda pathetic if you ask me." Fifteen's eyes darkened further. Jason appeared to have caught on to Percy's plan and thankfully stayed silent.

"Shut up! I'm allowed to be angry." Percy smirked as condescendingly as he could manage.

"Of course you are. Though being angry with no reason is just stupid." Fifteen snapped, jumping forwards to swing a fist at Percy.

For once, Percy allowed himself to be punched, rolling with the blow but landing in a crumpled heap on purpose.

Jason took over then, just like Percy had hoped, drawing Fifteen away from Percy just as he had hoped.

Lying on the floor, he once again sought out the water. He drew it in cautiously, trying not to alert Fifteen to its presence. He wondered what the others on board would think if they saw the water sliding down the halls.

He waited patiently as Jason darted around, trying to land a blow with the hilt of his sword but unable to get past the protective flames. Annabeth had found that she could move incredibly slowly and the fire would follow, so she had made her way over to Piper.

The water was now just outside of the doors; Percy could feel it there waiting for him to command it.

In as small a movement as possible, he shifted himself so that he could observe the younger boys.

Jason was making a splendid distraction. As Percy watched, the blond sent him a calculating glance. Fifteen was too preoccupied to notice, and so Percy nodded.

Then Jason was flinging himself as far away from Fifteen as he could get as a flood of water was pulled through the doors and dumped itself on the flaming Latino. One part of it snaked away to remove the fire that had been stopping Annabeth from speaking.

Fifteen was forced to the floor due to the pressure, his flames effectively doused as he knelt in a pool of water.

Percy smiled in relief.

Then the soaked hair was pushed back and scarlet eyes met his. Fifteen smirked predatorily. The water began to steam.

Nico's P.O.V

Nico cursed as a fireball skimmed his leg. The two Leos should have been relatively easy to take down, one had no fighting experience and neither should have been in control of their powers.

Yet sheer rage apparently made both the kid and the teen into formidable opponents. He was currently facing off against Fourteen, although he knew that his sister was amazing in a fight, he preferred to take the more experienced Leo.

"You think that you can tame me like I'm sort of pet? Force me to do whatever you want?" The boy's attacks became more vicious then, and Nico repeated his curse as he jumped out of the way.

He waved his hand, summoning shadows to try and restrain Fourteen, but the brat was nimble, dodging with a surprising amount of grace.

As he pooled the energy for another attack, Hazel danced around one of Six's fireballs, ending up standing next to him.

Her face was filled with pain as she pleaded with the Leos to snap out of it.

Six simply stared back at them eerily. Fourteen grimaced.

"Will you just shut the hell up!" Fourteen exploded suddenly, swinging round to lob a fireball directly at Hazel. Nico instinctively shoved his sister out of the way, and braced himself for impact, but the burning pain never came.

He cracked his eyes open (though he hadn't even realised that he had closed them) to see Six standing in front of him, swaying subtly as he held the fireball that had been about to cinder Nico.

"Six?" The child turned towards him with a soft smile. The red in his eyes was diluted with a warm brown colour that was seeping sluggishly into his eyes. The kid looked like he was drugged, but at least he wasn't mindlessly attacking them like Fourteen. Maybe Enyo was losing her power over Six. It was then that the red returned full force as Six turned to face Fourteen.

Fourteen was eying the child with an expression that could almost be considered wary, a stark contrast to the rage from before.

Six let out a high, grating laugh. Then he was flinging himself towards Fourteen. The older Leo dodged, a strange look of contempt flitting over his face.

"Stupid child." His foot lodged itself in the stomach of his child self. Six coughed desperately as he collapsed to the floor.

But then he was dragging himself back up, once again aiming to attack Fourteen. Both Leos were now ignoring the stricken half siblings.

"What the hell is going on?" Nico really hoped that Hazel would have an answer, but his sister looked even more confused than he did.

"I don't know." Her hand sought his as Six was knocked back to the floor.

"Stop it!" Nico found himself blurting out this order, yet neither Leo even bothered to look at him.

Nico knew that he and his sister had to do something, Six was getting really banged up, and he had managed to land some blows on Fourteen that would turn into nasty bruises without the aid of ambrosia.

"I'll take Fourteen, you grab Six." Hazel agreed to his plan, and they let go of each other's hands (albeit a tad reluctantly, this situation was horrible).

They waited until Six had been knocked back from Fourteen before making their move. Nico grabbed at Fourteen, and managed to wrap an arm around his wrist. He ignored how hot Fourteen's skin was in favour of pinning the son of Hephaestus' arms to his side and putting him on the ground.

Hazel snatched Six out of the air and pulled him into her in a tight hug that also served to cage Six in her arms.

Underneath him, Fourteen was writhing madly, trying to shift the weight off of his back. Yet his attacks had lost any form of planning, the teen was acting from pure emotion.

Six was struggling also; however, his attempts were feeble in comparison to Fourteen's.

The temperature went up a notch as the teen on the floor began spewing all sorts of profanity in a mix of English, Greek and Spanish. Nico's sister covered Six's ears.

Getting the two to calm down would not be easy.

Frank's P.O.V

Frank heard the crashing and obvious battle noises from where he and Hedge were minding Eight in the dining room. The satyr had refused point blank to enter the games room with any version of Leo ever again, and so Frank had brought them here in the hopes of plying the kid with inordinate amounts of sugar.

The little Leo was still trembling, stress from the missing Six, acting up Fifteen and his nightmare obviously taking a toll on the child.

Frank winced in sympathy as the small child sniffled, clutching his bar of chocolate like a lifeline. Hedge was also observing the Latino worriedly, and their eyes met.

As the Hedge was a satyr, and thus a protector of demigod children, Frank assumed that he had been in situations like this before and should therefore have some idea of what to do. But the coach was staring at the crying child as if he were a particularly dangerous enemy that needed to be whacked with his club.

To save Eight from this fate, Frank stepped forwards, planning on asking if the kid wanted to talk about it. Though just as he was about to reach out to him, Eight stiffened dramatically, the candy falling from his hand and on to the table where it began to melt as the temperature in the room began to climb.

"Eight?" Frank called hesitantly. The younger demigod's eyes were tracing the pattern left by the chocolate as it formed sticky, brown rivers on the table top.

He called again, and the child's face turned to him.

One eye was watery and brown. The other was a deep red.

"Help me." The boy croaked as the colours in his eyes swirled, some unseen battle occurring in his head.

What's happening?" Frank shot the question at Coach Hedge who seemed to be seriously considering fetching his cudgel.

"Enyo." The half-goat growled as Eight's weeping got louder. The struggle was evident on his face, not just through the shifting eye colours but also through the strain of his jaw and the water that stained it.

"Eight, you can fight this. Don't let her take over your mind." The kid shook as his nails scrabbled at the table. Thankfully he wasn't on fire yet, but Frank had a feeling that one way or another, the table was going to be burnt today.

"I can't!" Eight wailed as the red began spreading to his right eye. The brown was being quickly overtaken by the crimson that already stained his left eye.

"You can!" Frank insisted, finally giving in to the urge to hug the boy.

The chocolate finally melted into a puddle.

* * *

o now all four Leos are suffering Yay, pain for everyone. I'll see you all next time.


	14. Chapter 14

And here I am, still late, and sill sorry for that, but I am trying so thank you all for being so patient with me. And thanks as always to anybody who faved or followed.

Melancholy's Sunshine : Oh the poor Leos are definitely going to be suffering, and there are going to be a lot of issue to work on. The rest of the seven are really going to have to step up if they want some happy, smiling and (mot importantly) sane Leos. A Hephaestus intervention would be funny, I may include that later on, thanks for the idea.

Koolkat0207 : Thank you, I hope the chapter is worth the (long) wait.

Skyfir3S4kur4 : I hope you didn't get in trouble for squealing in class You're lucky that you don't flail, whenever something that I read gets updated, I flail like a crazy person. And sometimes I forget about my OCs, I actually have a list of the people that I need to write about for my other story.

Neon Wish Likes Pine Trees : I'm glad to see someone else who reacts to the pain and suffering of a beloved character in the same way as me.

Lady Aoi-chan : Thank you for taking the time to read and review! Forgoing sleep is a difficult task, but us fangirls bear it with pride.

Sidda : Ah, the suffering of Leo and Hearthstone is truly a glorious sight . And I'm in pretty much all those fandoms (as well as a few more). I actually forgot to check the song until you reminded me, so I just listened to it, and now I have Hetalia feels and I haven't actually watched it yet. And never forget being a shadowhunter, they have to many amazing characters to forget.

A23 : You can hate me and love me at the same time if you want Thank you for reviewing, and for being so kind in your review.

Connwaer Heap : I torture them because I love them. Everything about why Six and Fourteen are fighting will be revealed soon, and Fifteen can be pretty cunning. Eight's going to have a hard time fighting against Enyo's influence. And thank you for wishing me well in college, I hope that everything is going well for you too.

Lyra : Please don't hate me too much, I only hurt them because I love them . And I'll gladly take the pizza, though I'm not sure if the penny is much of an incentive.

Zoethezany III : Hehe, cliffhangers everywhere! I love being a troll, I only follow in the footsteps of the great troll Riordan after all.

Elephantlover123 : Um, I'm glad that you like my story and want to read it to the end, but I don't think that it's been that long since I updated, has it? I will be continuing no matter what though, so don't worry.

Shadows of the Aurora : Thank you, it's nice to hear that you like the way the plot is developing.

Guest : Here you go

Disclaimer : Yeah, I haven't miraculously bought the rights to the series. Yet. One day…

* * *

Frank's P.O.V

Eight, the second smallest Leo was currently sobbing in his arms, temperature fluctuating wildly. Luckily, Frank hadn't been burned yet, but he had decided that he had to keep hold of the child no matter what.

The poor boy was vibrating with stress, fear and the sheer effort of trying to keep Enyo at bay.

"Please, I don't want to hurt them. Please, please, please!" Frank wondered who Eight was begging, himself, Enyo or the Gods.

"Listen, Eight. It's going to be fine, okay? You are stronger than this. I believe in you." The tear-streaked face tilted up, revealing the brown eyes spotted with crimson.

"You do? Even though I killed mi madre?" Frank hugged him closer.

"Yes. I'll always believe in you, Eight." The crimson started seeping out of the child's eyes, and Frank smiled in relief.

Then there was a huge crash and a scream from the direction of the training room.

The trio jolted, and Frank shot to his feet.

"Crap!" Hedge glared at him for that.

"And I thought you were one of the good ones." The goat man murmured disappointedly. The son of Mars knew that if Valdez was whole and here right now there would have been plenty of jokes (Frank could see him wagging his finger and going "language" in his head).

Frank glanced between Eight and the door. Someone was in trouble in the training room, but he couldn't just abandon Eight. That was when Coach Hedge stepped forwards.

"Go help those guys, I've got the baby Valdez." Frank was amazed that Hedge wasn't threatening to go and beat up the problem himself, but he was still wary of leaving Eight at this stage.

The child looked up at him, wiping his eyes resolutely. The brown orbs now only had the faintest sheen of red covering them.

"Help the others Frank. They're with Fifteen, and he's way more dangerous than me. Besides, you said that you believe in me, right?" Frank's mind was made up.

"Always." He replied, before he spun on his heel and sprinted out to the training room as fast as he could.

Smoke was pouring out from under the doorway, and Frank recoiled. Even if his lifeline was safe with Hazel, that much smoke could not mean anything good.

Gingerly, Frank nudged the doors open. More smoke billowed out, and Frank had to cover his mouth hastily.

He edged into the room, and his jaw promptly dropped. There was a smoking hole in the middle of the training room floor, and Annabeth was leaning over it coughing as the wood smouldered.

"What happened?" Annabeth's worried eyes met his.

"Fifteen's fighting the others." Frank was tempted to reply sarcastically, because it would take a lot for him not to have made that conclusion, but this really wasn't the time.

"But Percy can use water, can't he just put him out?" The daughter of Athena shook her head, eyes watering.

"He's reached a temperature where he can evaporate water as soon as it comes in contact with his skin." Frank cursed in Latin and walked over to the hole. He quickly assessed Annabeth's condition. She was hunched over slightly, hand over her stomach.

"You alright?" The blonde girl nodded, and gestured to the hole in the floor that was thankfully no longer on fire, the embers flickering out unnervingly.

"The brat got a good kick in, you should go help the others, he's a tricky little fireball." Frank gave her one last concerned look before he jumped down to go and help the others in any way he could.

Hazel's P.O.V

"Why in the name of our father are you two fighting each other?" Nico yelled, wincing as the Latino teen's body began heating up again. Hazel was glad that Six was currently keeping his temperature (mostly) under control.

"Because that idiota keeps causing trouble! I hate him!" So much for the littlest Leo's stable temperature. The red in the boy's eyes flared as he screamed his reply to Nico'. Fourteen was also glaring hatefully at his counterpart.

He had stopped struggling completely, blood coloured eyes locked onto Six with a frightening intensity.

"Because I know what that brat is going to turn into! He thinks he's so innocent, that's he's so much better than me because he hasn't actually lived through mom's death, because he hasn't lived on the streets yet. Well, newsflash you stupid, naïve brat, I am you! You're going to grow into me and you're gonna kill mom!" Six howled with rage, increasing his struggles. Hazel winced as tiny flames licked at her skin. The area reddened, but thankfully it wasn't anything severe.

Then Nico yelped as Fourteen was suddenly coated in fire. Her older brother leapt off in time to avoid being burnt, but this situation still wasn't good.

Because Fourteen was now launching himself at her or, more accurately, the child in her arms.

Hazel dodged Fourteen's attack with relative ease, but Six took this opportunity to wiggle out of her arms.

The two Leos began fighting again. Hazel managed to reach where her brother was standing, sword clenched in his hand.

"What do we do?" Her voice trembled, she hated feeling so helpless. Why were the Leos fighting each other? And then it clicked.

"Enyo's power ramps up feelings of hate and anger, just like Mars, right?" Her brother nodded, flinching when Fourteen landed a particularly nasty punch that smashed Six into the ground.

"I think… I think that Leo hated himself at Fourteen." The words burnt her throat more than Leo's fire could ever burn her.

Nico's wide eyes met hers. Hazel felt herself begin to cry.

"And Six just saw his mother die due to his powers. Our Leo might be past these issues now, but Six has only just found out. He probably hates himself right now as well. And now they can actually take that anger out on themselves, in the form of fighting each other."

"That's messed up." Nico's worried eyes shifted back to the fight. "No one that young should hate themselves."

It was at that moment that Six was sent flying into a wall by Fourteen. The kid whimpered but returned to his feet shakily.

Fourteen was heading straight for him again, but Nico intercepted, grabbing his burning fist and wincing as his palm seared. Hazel was expecting Fourteen to just keep attacking, but surprisingly the flames dies down as Fourteen glared resentfully at Nico.

"Let go!" He ordered. Nico shook his head, and Hazel decided that it was her turn to intervene. She stepped forwards and wrapped her arms around Fourteen, who released Nico's slightly charred hand.

Her brother instantly went to Six, propping the small Leo up gently.

"Just let me go." The voice was low, dangerous, but Hazel simply shook her head and gripped the son of Hephaestus tighter.

"You need to stop this Fourteen. You need to stop taking your anger out on Six, and you need to stop hating yourself." At this, Fourteen suddenly burst into flames again, and Hazel's clothes began smouldering.

Horror filled her, but not at the thought of being burnt herself. She quickly reached into her pocket, pulling out the piece of firewood that was her boyfriend's lifeline.

The end had begun to burn, and Hazel cried out in sheer terror, smothering the branch as fast as she could, completely ignoring the flames that licked at her own body.

Thankfully the branch went out, and Hazel cradled it to her body, desperate sobs leaving her mouth as she clutched at the stupid stick that kept her boyfriend alive.

He had entrusted her with it, literally put his life into her hands, and she had almost allowed it to be destroyed.

"H-Hazel?" She looked up, only to find Fourteen staring at her apprehensively. The red in his gaze burned, reminiscent of his flames.

She was vaguely aware of her brother holding Six and staring at her worriedly, but her focus was on the teen in front of her.

He made to step towards her, and she screamed out at him not to come any closer. The teen faltered. Some part of Hazel was warning her to be careful, that what she said now could seriously hurt Fourteen, but another part was still in shock over almost destroying Frank's lifeline.

"Don't come near me! Your flames will kill him." Fourteen cringed, and took a step back from her.

"I-I- I didn't mean to!" His voice was shaky and regretful, but Hazel was going numb from the shock.

"You never mean to do you? You just lose your temper and people get hurt." Fourteen recoiled, hunching over as tears began spilling onto the floor.

"I know. I'm sorry." He then spun and raced from the room, choked sobbing echoing behind him.

She turned to her brother and Six, only to find that Six was staring at her in a way that was almost betrayed.

Nico also looked completely taken aback, and if Hazel wasn't wrong, at least part of that look was disgust at her actions.

And then what she had said truly sank in.

"Schist!"

Piper's P.O.V

As soon as the water started evaporating, Piper had the feeling that they were screwed. Fifteen rose from the floor, head down, hair covering his face and water turning to steam all around him.

Piper caught a quick glimpse of a devilish grin before the flames intensified, and Fifteen was darting in to attack them again.

They tried to fight him without hurting him, but it wasn't easy. Annabeth was brutally kicked in the stomach, and they were all sporting bruises and burns that ranged from quite mild to relatively nasty.

Percy was currently the most successful at fighting him, but no one was really achieving much.

Piper's head was still aching from being slammed into the wall, and she was feeling really groggy, but she still staggered to her feet.

"Fifteen, stand still!" She was amazed that her charmspeak had any effect, but the boy froze in place. Unfortunately, Jason had been just about to attack him, and although he had excellent control, the blow still landed, if slightly lessened by his desperate attempt to divert the swing.

A cut bloomed across Fifteen's chest, and the red in his eyes swirled hatefully.

And then his flames were even hotter than before.

Piper screamed as the fire engulfed the floor around Fifteen, the wood collapsing and taking the young demigod with it.

Jason and Percy instantly dived for the hole, with Piper hot on their heels. Annabeth was still trying to recover from the kick to her stomach, and Piper spared a moment to shout across to her that they would take care of this.

She leapt down into the hole, landing pretty well considering the pain in her head.

The fight was continuing down here, and Piper was about to use charmspeak again when she was forced to move out of the path of an oncoming fireball. It was hard to shout commands when trying to avoid being cindered. Plus, the smoke from the burnt wood filled her mouth, making her gag and splutter.

The fight raged on as she moved away from the smoking wood. The flames on the floorboards were dying down already, which Piper noted as unusual but had no real time to consider. This needed to stop.

All of a sudden, Frank was dropping down beside her, also coughing, irritated by the smoke above.

His face was grim as he observed the situation.

"She's also getting to Eight, I assume that Six and Fourteen might also be in trouble." Piper's heart sank, if sweet little Eight was being affected then turbulent Fourteen would definitely be struggling.

She tried to catch he breath, but she had inhaled quite a bit of smoke and her lungs were still protesting.

She mentally cursed how easily Fifteen repeatedly negated her ability. She knew that it probably hadn't been deliberate, but it still irked her.

Turning to Frank to see if he was going to be joining in the brawl, Piper was amazed to see him freeze, teeth gritted in pain.

"Frank?" She just about managed to grind out the boy's name when he fell to his knees and screamed.

Piper barely noticed the noise of the fight dying down as Frank fell to his knees, panting in agony.

Percy and Jason were next to them in an instant, and Piper distractedly wondered why Fifteen was taking this opportunity to attack.

And then Frank was sitting back up, heaving and gulping huge breaths of fresh air into his lungs.

"My lifeline's been burnt!"* Percy's eyes filled with concern, and he knelt down next to Frank.

"Do you know how much has been burnt or…" The son of Poseidon trailed of, and Frank shook his head.

"Something must have happened to Hazel." His voice was scratchy as he trembled, eyes fixing on the fiery teen approaching them.

Except, Fifteen wasn't on fire anymore. And his eyes, though still red, were no longer glowing.

"What's been burnt?" This was kind of ironic seeing as there was a literal gaping hole in the ceiling above them where he had burnt through the floorboards, but Piper realised that Fifteen was worried about Frank.

It was weird to see that he was still partly under Enyo's influence, but Frank's scream had clearly snapped him out of it somewhat.

"My life is tied to a piece of firewood that Hazel carries for me." His voice was still shaky. Fifteen looked as if he had been punched by the son of Mars.

"So if it burns…"

"I die." Fifteen flinched and took a few steps back.

"So Fourteen or Six could have killed you." The tone was dark, and alarm bells rang in Piper's head.

Obviously the same bells were deafening her companions as Frank hurriedly stood up, though he did lean on Percy for support.

"I'm fine, the wood's been burnt before." This didn't seem to be what Fifteen wanted to hear.

"By me?" His voice was hoarse, and the demigods scrambled to reassure him.

"No! You've never tried to, even when we argued."

"You have much better control now."

"Not even accidently…"

Piper stepped forwards.

"Fifteen, whatever is going on with the others, burning Frank's firewood must have been an accident." Fifteen's eyes filled with tears.

"Knock me out."

"What?" Piper really hadn't been expecting that.

"I can't keep myself under control for long, and I don't want to hurt you guys anymore. Please, knock me out so she can't use me against you." Piper and Jason both protested (Frank was still wheezing slightly) but Percy stepped forwards, uncapping his pen (which he had dropped when he ran over to Frank and had returned to his pocket like usual) and flipping the sword.

"Sorry." He muttered before connecting the grip of the sword with Fifteen's temple. The fire demigod collapsed into Percy's arms, and the older demigod hoisted him into his arms.

"I'm sorry, Frank." All of the conscious demigods whipped their heads towards the hole in the ceiling which Eight was standing beneath. Flames crackled over his body, and swirled from one red eye. The other eye remained chocolate brown, and was filled with tears.

"You believed in me." The boy stepped forwards.

"But I can't control it."

* * *

*I can't remember if/when Frank told the others about his lifeline, but let's just pretend they all know about it. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you all next time.


	15. Chapter 15

Holy macaroni, it has been such a long time since I wrote this story and I can only offer my sincerest apologies for this. Sometimes life just gets in the way of the things that we love doing. Thank you for anyone who is still reading this despite my horrific update schedule.

Skyfir3S4kur4 : I'm was aiming for intense so I'm glad that it paid off (and yeah, randomly screaming probably wouldn't endear you to your family if they were there to hear it). Thank you for saying that I'm awesome (even if I'm really not) and that you are psyched, though the wait probably murdered that anticipation a little... Anyway, you remembered how to not use caps near the end if the review ;)

Melancholy's Sunshine : You always give me such wonderful ideas, the thought of all the Leos trying to avoid Frank is definitely something I'm going to incorporate, so thank you for that. And I can seriously imagine Mars eating popcorn whilst cheering at all the violence in the mortal realm, and poor Hephaestus trying to sneak away so he doesn't have to indulge Mars' ideas. I hope that the looking forwards to this chapter was worth it...

Neon Wish Likes Pine Trees : Right now I am just picturing little Eight reading that comment and blushing because you said that you believe in him. And Fourteen didn't mean to hurt your Frank, he really is sorry.

Matt : If you aren't reading this anymore, then you probably won't see this message, and that's totally fine with me. If you don't want to read my story, that's okay, everyone likes different things, and if this isn't your cup of tea then don't force yourself. But, I do kinda want to point out that Learning about Leo was as dark (if not darker) than this story, and you read that...

Guest : You're very welcome, thank you for reviewing. And i love writing Eight and trying to make him cute :)

Koolkat0207 : I've certainly took my time, haven't I? I'm really sorry that this took so long to write, exams just came in like a wrecking ball and smashed apart my update schedule. I am glad that you enjoyed it though.

Sidda : I gave myself feels with that chapter, so you aren't suffering alone. And I adore Ouran, Kyoya is my fave. Who is yours? And I still need to get round to watching Hetalia, I just have so much to catch up on first (including all of my stories). And college was a bit of a pain, but I got through it (thanks for asking). Sometimes my sister does annoy me, but we are really close so those moments are pretty rare. That is my reply to your first review. Are you okay? I hope that you're okay. Honestly, take your time with reviewing (I'm lucky to have such a dedicated reviewer anyway, and I would be a hypocrite to complain seeing as I am so late with updating). But seriously, I'm always here if you need to talk (even if my replies may sometimes take a while).

A23 : Thank you so, so much for your review! It's so lovely that I actually almost can't find the words myself. I am so happy that you think that I can write emotively, and that my story inspires emotions in you. There is really no need to thank me (and this is going to sound super cheesy) because, seriously, the best thanks is just knowing that there are people out there who enjoy my writing.

ZoethezanyIII : Nope, it was certainly not cool at all. In fact, due to the Leo's, it was probably very... hot. Please don't kill me for that awful pun.

Guest : Thank you, it's always lovely to hear that people appreciate the way that I write :)

SilverArtemis Huntress : It's always bad pun reference time :)

Kris Senju : To be fair, Hazel was freaking out (not much of a justification, but she wasn't trying to be awful, it just turned out that way). And Nico does have a knack for dealing with angsty 14, which will certainly help him now.

Guest : Thank you for your enthusiasm, and for your kind compliments. I will never give up on this story, no matter how long it may take me to update it.

Mondmaedchen : Ah, I really appreciate that! It is relieving to hear that you think my stories are getting better and better, I'd like to think that I am improving.

Guest : Thank you :) I'm happy that you like both the plot and the way that it is written. And I don't know which of my four Leos is my favourite (though I love angst so writing Fourteen is always fun), but like you, original Leo will always be my ultimate favourite.

Hispanicin : I'm sorry that it hurts your soul, even if you are enjoying the story. Though I can't answer your question, because that would be spoilers. Sorry.

Disclaimer : In my absence from this fanfiction, I have still not acquired the rights to any of Rick Riordan's work. Not through lack of trying, mind you.

* * *

Percy's P.O.V

It had hurt Percy's heart to knock Fifteen out like that, but it would have hurt him more if he had had to listen to the younger demigod begging any longer. Leo was like a little brother to him, and he knew that the younger boy would never forgive himself if he hurt anyone seriously.

Luckily most of the physical damage that Fifteen had caused could be fixed (with a heap of ambrosia and some dedicated time spent on repairing the ship), but Percy was worried about what his mental state would be like after this incident.

And now they had a new problem in the form of little Eight.

Said child was vibrating with sobs as his fire raged in the area around him. Thankfully it remained around the small boy, and hadn't yet reached the other demigods or the wood of the ship. Although the burnt areas could be recovered by one of the Leos (when they were all back to normal), Percy didn't think that any further torching would be good for their floating/flying home.

"Oh Eight!" Frank wheezed out, face contorting with pain (though Percy expected that this was more from emotional pain than any lingering effects from whatever had happened to his lifeline).

The son of Poseidon shifted his grip on Fifteen to hold the Latino more securely. He didn't know if this situation was about to spiral into another fight, but if it did then Percy would need to remove the unconscious Leo from the scene before entering the fray himself.

Hopefully it wouldn't come to that. Jason and Piper were warily inching their way towards the second youngest Leo.

Eight's shaking form seemed to be retreating in on itself, whether to avoid contact with Jason and Piper or as a conscious effort to try and restrain himself, Percy could only guess.

"Why am I so angry!" The child tore at his hair as he blurted out this question, seemingly more to himself than the teens.

"Because there is a Goddess influencing your emotions." Annabeth's voice was way too calm for this situation as she dropped down from the hole in the ceiling, no longer holding her stomach.

Eight stumbled back from her, right into Jason and Piper. His currently hetero-chromatic eyes widened in panic, but as the duo gently wrapped their arms around him, his flames seemed to quell.

"A Goddess?" His trembling voice questioned.

"Yes. The nasty Goddess who took Six is trying to make you angry in order to split us up." Piper answered, soothingly running her hand through the child's hair.

"How do I fight a Goddess?" A note of hysteria entered Eight's voice despite their efforts to keep him calm.

Percy knew that it was possible to fight against a God and win, but he had no clue how they could fight against the intangible rage that Enyo was utilising as a weapon.

Thankfully, thinking of solutions was what his Wise girl did best.

"Try thinking of positive things. Like Festus, and building things, and us all being here for you." Eight scrutinised her momentarily, before peeking at all of the others. Everyone sent him reassuring smiles, and Percy even gave him a big thumbs up (though this motion almost caused him to drop Fifteen). Hopefully Eight would be able to shake off Enyo's influence, though they would have to actually deal with the Goddess herself at some point.

Jason reached down and slipped Eight's hand into his own. His girlfriend crouched as well, kissing Eight on the forehead, which caused him to blush even as the red in his eye began lightening.

"Come on little firebug. Show us how strong you are." Piper stated. Eight's eyes shuttered closed as he clenched Jason's hand.

The rest of the demigods began giving him reassurances of his own, and after a few minutes, Eight's eyes opened to reveal two shimmering brown eyes. The young boy smiled in relief, before his knees buckled and he fell unconscious into Jason and Piper's arms.

Percy felt himself crying out, but then Annabeth made her way over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay. He's probably just exhausted. But he did throw off Enyo's influence, which with any luck won't claim him again. Now we should probably get these two to somewhere they can rest."

"Yeah, your arms must be aching by now." Frank joked, but his face was still ashen.

"Are you okay Frank?" Percy questioned as Jason and Piper stood up, Jason gathering eight in his arms in a mirror of how Percy was carrying Fifteen.

"I'm fine, just a little... shaken I guess." The shapeshifter sighed, and then his eyes filled with alarm.

"Oh schist, I left Eight with Coach Hedge, what happened to him?" The others caught on to the urgency of the question and quickly left the room to check the dining room where the goat man had been left in charge of the second youngest Leo.

When they got there, they were met by an utterly fuming satyr, chained to table and ranting to himself about tricky, little demigods pulling chains out of seemingly nowhere when he didn't even have a toolbelt.

"Wow, I didn't know that we invited Gollum onboard. Tricksy little demigods." Percy murmured, and Annabeth shot him a look that was probably meant to be reprimanding, but was undermined by the twinkle in her eye at the reference.

Hedge spotted the demigods, and the two unconscious Leos. For a moment, concern was clear on his face, but he swiftly covered it up with a rather pitiful attempt at indifference.

"So you've dealt with the troublesome cupcakes then." He stated and the demigods smiles at seeing Coach Hedge okay (if in a mildly humiliating position) vanished.

"Eight was able to shake off Enyo's influence, but we don't know if he will be fine after he wakes up. And we have no clue of what to do with Fifteen. He did seem to come to his senses a little bit, but he begged us to knock him out." Jason reported, cuddling Eight closer to his chest in an adorable, big brother move.

"And evidently you did knock him out."

"I did." Percy instantly took responsibility. Hedge stared at him, before nodding.

"You did the right thing cupcake. It's better to have him unconscious than have him causing trouble and making himself feel guiltier." Percy probably shouldn't feel so relieved to have approval from a demented satyr whose usual solution to every problem was to try and bludgeon it with his cudgel, but nonetheless a small sliver of tension left him.

"Well, I guess me and Jason should take these to Leo's room whilst you guys release the Coach." Annabeth and Piper began working on the chains instantly as Percy and Jason ducked from the room.

Nico's P.O.V

Nico cradled the tiny Six in his arms as his sister slid to the ground, sobbing.

He couldn't believe what had happened, his usually kind, loving sister had completely turned on one of the people who needed them the most right now.

The son of Hades understood that Hazel must have been terrified for her boyfriend, but now the situation was even more dire than before.

Nico knew that he had to go after Fourteen, but he didn't want to leave his sister like this, and Six was also a priority.

"Hazel?" He approached slowly, trying to ignore the way Six burrowed into him as they got closer to the daughter of Pluto.

"I can't believe that I just did that! How could I be so stupid? Of course it wasn't Fourteen's fault, he didn't know about Frank's lifeline, and even if he did Enyo is to blame for all that is happening right now, not him." Six halted his attempt to merge with Nico's collarbone at Hazel's horrified tone.

"He was starting to trust us and now I've ruined everything. Everything I said was so out of line, he must hate me now." Before Nico could offer any form of comfort, Six piped up, albeit with some hesitance.

"I don't think that big me hates you. He thinks that you hate him." Six's words didn't seem to reassure Hazel much, but they did spur her into action.

"I have to go after him!"

"Are you sure that's such a good idea? Maybe I should go after him first and try to calm him down."

"No." Hazel shook her head, and Nico saw the resolution in her gaze. He sighed.

"Good luck then." Six cautiously reached out and pat her on the shoulder. After Hazel's brief meltdown, Six's struggles had died down considerably, and Nico was thankful for that as he would be dealing with the youngest Leo whilst his sister went after Fourteen.

Fourteen's P.O.V

Fourteen was rocking back and forth in at the side of the museum. His fists were clenched around his hair as he tried to squash down the hatred and rage poisoning his insides.

Part of him was screaming that he was an idiot, that he always hurt people and that he should run away and never come back to trouble the people who had been so kind to him despite they way he had acted, whilst another part was still yearning to go and scream at Six for being so innocent whilst he himself was so tainted, and a final part was howling in betrayal at Hazel's words.

Out of everyone, Fourteen had found himself warming up the most to Hazel and Nico, and to have her remind him that everywhere he went, all he did was cause trouble, was undeniably painful.

Though if he wasn't such a screw up then there would be no reason for that statement...

Fourteen whimpered and drew his knees further into his chest. And according to Hazel he had just almost killed someone, just like he had killed his mother. Emotions raged with him, and a rushing filled his ears, blocking out all sounds.

That was why he didn't hear Hazel approaching at first. He did, however, feel a hand tentatively being placed on his shoulder. Jolting backwards, his head connected painfully with the wall, and he snarled in an animalistic manner.

Hazel hovered in front of him, face a mix of sorrow and regret that just stirred his anger more. What did she have to regret, she wasn't the one to nearly kill somebody? All she had done was give out a healthy does of the truth. ]

Though she had been completely unfair in referencing his mother...

Fourteen groaned, as a mini inferno started up around him, causing Hazel to leap back. Good, he didn't want her anywhere near him.

"Fourteen..."

"Cállate (shut up)!" The son of Hephaestus growled, deliberately ignoring the apologetic, guilty look in the girl's eyes.

"I'm sorry." Fourteen scoffed.

"No you're not. You meant every word you said, otherwise you wouldn't have said it."

"I didn't! I freaked out because I was worried about Frank, and I lashed out at you when I shouldn't have."

"Why shouldn't you? I almost killed somebody, again, because I couldn't control myself, again, because I lost my temper, again. You were right, all I do is hurt people."

"No you don't..." Her attempt at denying what he had said inflamed his temper further.

"Oh, really? So I didn't almost kill someone just then? So I didn't beat up all of those gang members? So I didn't kill the only person in the world to actually love me?" Hazel blanched at that, and the enraged part of his mind rejoiced at the look of pain on her face.

"See, you can't even deny it! All I do is hurt people..."

"NO IT'S NOT!" Fourteen jumped slightly at the explosion from the previously passive, remorseful girl.

"Sure, you've hurt some people, though usually by accident and a lot of the people deserved it! But that's not all you do. You are kind and funny, excellent at brightening the mood and incredibly smart and talented! You may not be the Leo that I am used to exactly, but you will grow to be him, and he is someone to whom I entrust my life! We all would! And do you know why?" Fourteen shook his head mutely, stunned into silence by Hazel's words.

"Because we love you! You are our repair boy, our brother and we don't care if you mess up because we mess up as well! Sure, you hurt Frank then, but you are being influenced by a stupid Goddess. At least you have an excuse for what you did, what I said to you has no excuse."

"I almost killed somebody, you had every right to..."

"To use what I know about your past to hurt you in one of the worst ways possible? To blame you for a situation that was out of your control? No, I had no right to do that Fourteen, and I'm sorry that I did." To Fourteen's absolute horror, he felt the flames around him sizzle out and a familiar wetness on his cheeks.

"Oh God, I almost killed Frank!" Hazel's words finally caught up to him as it clicked that the person whose life he had almost ended was Hazel's boyfriend. Overwhelmed and overwrought, Fourteen felt even more tears bubbling up, and ducked his head ashamedly as pained whines fought their way out of his throat.

"Oh Fourteen." Hazel's arms were trying to wrap around him, but Fourteen shoved her away as gently as he could manage. The rage that had been clouding his head was seeping away, leaving Fourteen with an all consuming feeling of regret and sorrow.

He didn't deserve sympathy from Hazel.

Suddenly, a hand was gripping his chin, and tugging his face up fiercely.

"This. Is. Not. Your. Fault." She enunciated each word clearly, eyes locked onto his, and Fourteen felt his walls crumble.

Rationality left his mind, and he fell into Hazel's arms, bawling like a baby.

Percy's P.O.V

As he and Jason carried the Leos towards their room, Percy became aware of the pensive look on Jason's face.

Considering the fact that Percy was pretty much the official big brother of the team, he decided that he should probably talk with the son of Jupiter.

"You okay bro?" He tossed out casually. Jason was biting his hip slightly as he eyed the unconscious Leos.

"I didn't realise that Leo had pretty much always felt like a third wheel to us. I though that it really started round about the time that me and Piper got together, but some of the things that Fifteen said implied that he always felt that way." Jason's voice was miserable, and Percy thought back to how upset they had all been when they had found out that Leo had seen himself as the seventh wheel.

"Well, we managed to convince our Leo of his place among us, surely we can do the same for Fifteen." Jason didn't seem convinced.

"I don't know, it just seems like we're always making mistakes were Leo's concerned." Percy sighed, relating to Jason's fear as he recalled how badly he had messed up with Nico during the Titan war.

"I know that we've made quite a few mistakes, but I'd like to think that we've made some great progress as well. After all, Leo is still with us, he hasn't ran away. Now we just have to learn from those mistakes and be better friends to these Leos, as well as the normal Leo when he is brought back."

Jason's eyes suddenly fixed on him, and Percy realised that Jason had been bottling up a lot of worry for their fiery friend.

"But how are we going to get him back?" Percy recognised how pivotal this moment was, one wrong word could completely freak out his friend.

"Look, Hebe just wants us to learn more about Leo, right? So she will return him to normal, we just have to keep discovering more things about him. We can do this, Jay." Some of the anxiety in Jason's eyes melted away, and he cracked a grateful smile.

They reached Leo's room in comforting silence, and Percy vowed in his head that if Hebe didn't show any signs of turning Leo back to normal after a week or two, than he was going to have t find a way to have a little chat with her.

Nico's P.O.V

As Hazel left to track down Fourteen, Nico span Six around to talk to him face to face. He was amazed to find that the red had almost completely faded from the littlest Leo's eyes. Now his face showed only worry, seeking reassurance from the older demigod.

"Will they be alright?" Six's voice was tiny, laced with exhaustion, both emotional and physical.

"I'm sure they will. We've all been through worse things before." Six seemed to take at least a marginal amount of comfort from this.

"Nico?" Nico hugged the child, before humming to show that he was listening.

"I want to go back to the ship now."

"So do I, but we have to wait for the other two first though, okay?"

"Okay." He echoed., snuggling into Nico.

The son of Hades wasn't really a physical contact sort of guy, but he knew that the Leos seemed to be kind of tactile people, so he readily consented to having the child in his arms.

Plus, the kid's gentle warmth was a nice reminder that Enyo's influence appeared to have diminished, which gave Nico more hope for his sister being able to reason with Fourteen.

He would never admit it, but seeing Hazel lose it like that had really scared him. Six shifted in his arms, and Nico adjusted his hold accordingly.

Soft exhales brushed against his neck, and Nico couldn't help smiling as he noticed that Six had dropped off to sleep.

His mind drifted to his friends onboard the Argo. If Fourteen and Six had been so difficult to deal with, Nico could only pray that the more level-headed Fifteen would be less of a problem. Though he had apparently been acting up even before the trio had left to try and locate Six.

Plus, he had to factor in Eight as well, who may be affected seeing as all the other Leos seemed to be.

A little while later, Nico couldn't stand sitting around anymore. Standing up slowly as to not jolt the boy in his arms, Nico headed out of the building, listening for any sign of where the others might have been.

As he exited the museum, Nico became aware of muffled noise coming from the side of the building. The son of Hades didn't really want to intrude, but he was worried for both his sister and his friend so he walked over anyway.

Hazel and Fourteen were both on the floor, Fourteen's back against the wall, clinging to each other as Fourteen snivelled, intermittently whispering that he was sorry as Hazel murmured back that she forgave him, and that she was sorry as well.

The sight sort of broke Nico's heart.

* * *

Ugh, I tried so hard to make this chapter good seeing as it's been delayed for so long, but overall I'm not very impressed by it. It was nice to be writing again though. See you next time.


	16. Chapter 16

It has been an incredibly long time since I last updated. Life has been unpredictable, annoying and downright terrible between then and now, but I love my stories and I miss writing them so much. Hopefully you all still want to read them. I'm sorry for the wait.

Melancholy's Sunshine: Of course all the Leos love to cuddle, so Fourteen can deny it all he wants but everyone will know the truth. And I have a feeling that the quest demigods would definitely be a source of gossip for all of the Gods. From their parents especially

A23: Thank you so much! When I wrote chapter 15 I remember feeling rather disappointed in myself as I didn't think it was up to scratch, but hearing you say that you liked it has made me feel a little better about it. Also, I appreciate you saying that you like my writing style as it's so much fun to use. And never feel like you have to apologise for not faving or following, I'm happy enough just having you read my stories and leaving such wonderful comments. I hope that you got that laptop, and that if you didn't you will soon.

Mondmaedchen: Yup, things are really looking up for our favourite demigods. But for how long? Mwah hah hah.

Skyfir3S4kur4: I apologise for rendering you incapable of speech It hurts to make them cry, but it's satisfying to make it better.

Kris Senju: I'm a yaoi fangirl myself, and although this story won't involve any yaoi relationships as I'm trying to focus on the friendship side of things, I admit some things kind of slip in. I'm glad that you can enjoy the bromance anyway as it is an enjoyable one to write.

SunlessShipper: Thanks for notifying me that you have changed your name, I'm kinda of weird but it makes me happy to see the same people reviewing constantly as I feel like we sort of build up a dialogue throughout the story. And I give people feels because I have to, it is my duty in life ;)

Sidda: I guess that I have to apologise to you again for the incredibly late reply. I'm happy to hear that things got better for you, and I hope that they continued to do so in my absence. This made sound cheesy as well, but if you ever feel worried about having friends, even if I hadn't updated in a while I consider you to be one of mine. I hope that you also managed to make some more during the school year. To answer your questions, I think that I'd choose Luke as well, he was redeemable and Octavian slaughtered teddies so I was set against him from the start. The twins would be my next choose of faves, particularly Kaoru.

Lyra: You came back and I took a break, what irony. It's good to hear that you enjoyed the chapter, though I'm sorry for the wait.

Guest: I guess it's a little late to say I am…

Guest: Here you go.

Guest: Thank you

Dawnbreak55: I'm so sorry for the long wait!

Fire Baby: No matter how long it takes to update, I will never, ever give up on my stories. I love them all, but life sometimes just doesn't allow time for writing. Thanks for saying that you love both my stories, though I think my awful update system may revoke the title you have given it as being one of the best Leo fics.

GayAndreadytoRoll: I hope no one got hurt as you pushed them out the way for that announcement :D Seriously though, it made me giggle. There shall definitely be some #NICO AND LEO BOND 2K17, although it may be later than you anticipated…

Childofdeath2: Thank you. I wasn't too pleased with it, so it's nice to hear that you liked it. And I'm updating now so you can find out what happened next, sorry for the wait.

Guest: I appreciate you calling it adorable Though I'm sorry for not updating in so long.

Loveurfanfic: Umm, it's definitely later than planned, but I am updating.

Guest: I'm so sorry for leaving you with no resolution to such a sad chapter. Please don't hurt me though, I don't want either of us to go through that.

Guest: That's a nice idea, and it may come into play at some point in the story as it would certainly fit the plot, thanks. I'm glad to hear that you like it, and I'm sory again for the wait.

Please Update: I apologise for not complying with your username sooner, but I like the style you went for in asking me to update.

Reader Gonna Read: Thank you so much for telling me that you enjoy my stories, it really does make me feel Grace-ious. I hope that pun wasn't too far out, as I loved yours. I promise, I really always continue this story, even if life does its best to stop me.

Th 3: I appreciate that

Pantstemplate1: Ah, both you review and your username made me chuckle. I'm delighted to hear that you love my story so much, though I wouldn't marry it. It never tidies up after itself and doesn't know a thing about ironing! It's wouldn't make a good spouse at all.

HOLY SHIT: Ooh, I've not had a chance to listen to all of those songs yet though the ones I know are a good fit. I can definitely see Fifteen as a kind, loyal helper, Happy is a great fit for Six, and I imagined Fourteen ending an argument with finger snaps and Holloback girl playing behind him as he exits and it made me laugh for ages.

Irene2005: Thank you

Guest: Every time I get a review like this it makes me feel so bubbly and honoured. I love writing about Leo and it is so flattering to hear that I understand him as I truly do care, not just because I love him, but also because I want reviewers like you to get my absolute best writing.

RosettaQueen20: I promise that I am, even if it takes me a long time, I am never giving up on my stories!

Disclaimer: If I was an author, any publishing company would probably have fired me for not hitting deadlines. So yeah, Percy Jackson isn't mine.

* * *

Enyo's P.O.V

Enyo growled angrily, making no attempt to hide her displeasure as she was alone, though she probably wouldn't have cared even if she had been in company.

Although her plan had been far from flawless, she had anticipated from more success from it than what she had received.

Some solace could be taken from the fact that all of the demigods were shaken up, and the children that Gaia had shown most interest in were the most affected, Enyo had been prepared to revel in the glory of watching the young brats tear each other apart with no regard for their bonds of comradeship.

Influencing the incarnations of the fire-powered whelp was supposed to destroy the seven and their… tag-alongs from the inside. Hebe had made the child more vulnerable than ever, and as he was seen as the heart of their little expedition, Enyo had believed his rage would be enough to force them all into a war amongst themselves. Especially as there were so many powder kegs on the boat, relationships ready to splinter with a little pressure in the right place.

She had wished to set the heart ablaze, a literal heartburn that would dissolve their friendships like acid.

It had never occurred to her that the brats would have resisted her control. That they could all stop her influence with sappy words of friendship and compassion.

It made her sick, it made her spiteful, it made her… angry. Oh yes, she was angry. But anger didn't necessarily make her stupid, unlike her dear brother Ares.

The children would be licking their wounds after this experience, but their guards would be up and her influence would weaken considerably if she tried to use it against them whilst they were expecting it.

Enyo would concede this battle to the little ones. But she was not finished with them yet. Soon their minds would be diverted, their defences lowered. And she would be there, ready to stir the pot and escalate the minor skirmishes that had occurred this time around into an all-out battle with no holds barred.

After all, who better than a Goddess of strife to know that a battle may be lost as long as the war is won?

Jason's P.O.V

Jason had been very reluctant to leave the second youngest version of his friend alone due to the events of the day, but Percy had been insistent that the child was sound asleep, and that they should probably distance Fifteen from him somewhat in case either woke up still under Enyo's control so they couldn't leave the two in the same bed. Plus, the older demigods needed to gather in order to wait for the retrieval group to return.

It left a sour taste in Jason's mouth, the thought of leaving the two Leos in separate rooms with nobody watching over them to make sure that they were alright, but Percy's logic was sound. Everyone was drained as everything had been so hectic since Leo had been separated into his younger counterparts, and the Leos had probably suffered the most. There was no real chance of either of them getting up soon, even their firebug could run out of energy if things got too stressful.

He could tell that the Percy was still concerned as well, even though he had been the one to make the case, as he was holding Fifteen to his chest tightly whilst Jason removed Eight's shoes, tucked him in and kissed his forehead.

At one point, Jason may have been too embarrassed to do something that so openly expressed his fondness for the younger demigod in front of anyone, most of all Percy, as his strict Roman upbringing and desire to be a strong Praetor would have prevented such vulnerability, and his tenuous relationship with the Son of the sea God wold have exacerbated it further. Now, however, the had been through so much that Jason had loosened up around them all, and he knew that Leo was a very tactile person.

"Should we take Fifteen to the guest room?" Percy's question brought Jason back to the room. He could see dissatisfaction in Percy's eyes at the thought, and Jason understood why.

The rooms on this side of the ship were closer to everything important as Leo hadn't really been expecting many guests when he built the ship. They were only really included as a precaution, and although it wasn't usually a problem (although Nico occupied one, he didn't seem to mind having his own space), with the lingering threat of Enyo over the heads, it seemed daunting to have Fifteen even a little bit further away than Eight.

Both older demigods- and the others would probably agree- that it would be better to have the two near enough to each other that they could be checked on regularly with ease. Yet putting the two in a room together could be a risk as they might set each other off.

A moment passed as both considered the problem, with Percy still supporting Fifteen in his arms. With a muffled noise, the Latino snuggled closer to Percy, as if he was trying to hug him from his horizontal position.

Smiling warmly, but tiredly, Jason recalled finding Leo asleep like that occasionally whilst sharing a room with him in the Wilderness school, cuddled up to the weirdest of objects.

This gave him an idea, and he felt a little bit stupid for not considering it earlier.

"We can just put him in my room. It's right next door so we can check on both of them easily, and they're less likely to disturb one another as they won't be together. Also, we roomed together in the Wilderness school so the way my room is might seem familiar to him." Percy briefly looked surprised before nodding.

"If your cool with him potentially burning your bedsheets when he wakes up and doesn't instantly realise where he is then I think it's a great idea." The calm grin on his face let Jason know that he was teasing. They were putting some precautions into place, but they were pretty certain that Enyo's influence had been removed from the boys.

Jason opened the door to let Percy through, and glanced back once more just to make sure that Eight's face was still peaceful. The little Leo's tear streaks had dried, and he was still in his slightly blackened pyjamas as none of they were afraid of waking him up to get him changed, but a miniscule smile graced his lips.

It was the split Leos second night on board, and it thankfully looked as if at least two of them would get some good sleep this time.

The son of Jupiter unlocked his room and guided Percy inside before turning on the lights. After they had called a truce, Percy had been in here a couple of times, usually to ask if Jason wanted to spar or to tell him that he was needed, so he made his way to the bed quickly to deposit their friend.

As Jason had done for Eight, Percy pulled Fifteen's shoes of carefully and hoisted him back up. Unprompted Jason pulled the covers back so that Percy could slide the sleeping teen under them. Jason then tugged them over the boy's skinny shoulders as Percy ruffled his dark hair. Fifteen's face creased in his sleep, as if he somehow knew that his was being messed with, and the two awake demigods shared a silent chuckle as they exited the room, with Jason turning the lights off and shutting the door with a soft click behind them.

They started off towards the dining hall where the rest of the group had probably convened, hopefully with medical supplies as Jason didn't really want to be stuck in the medical room over a few bruises, scrapes and burns.

Really, the most concerning medical problem was Frank's stick of life, and that hadn't damaged him physically and the gentle giant had assured them all that he was perfectly fine and that the stick must have only been allowed to burn for a second.

It had still been unnerving to witness, and Jason was now doubly worried about the four missing demigods. If the stick had been burnt then at least three of the Leos had been affected by Enyo, possibly all four of them. A lot of damage control would have to be carried out in order to make sure that none of them blamed themselves for what had happened.

Abruptly, Percy span around and grabbed Jason's arms, a look of horror on his face. Jason instantly tensed up, praying that Percy hadn't remembered something disastrous that they would have to take care of.

"We just acted like parents! They were completely parent like actions! I feel so old; I can't possibly be going grey yet. I'm too young for a receding hairline!" Percy wailed this all out so melodramatically that Jason couldn't help but laugh, despite a small twinge of annoyance that Percy had scared him.

All annoyance seeped away when he noticed the warmth in Percy's eyes. The older boy leaned in and poked his forehead.

"As we are clearly ancient as displayed by our responsibility in putting a child and his slightly less of a child counterpart to bed, you should stop frowning so much. Wrinkles like that will soon get etched in." It was ridiculous, but it was Percy's sarcastic way of showing concern and lightening the mood so Jason accepted the teasing with a good natured grin.

They had reached the dining room and, as Jason headed in, he looked back over at Percy with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Well, I saw you dancing with Annabeth secretly last time you were on watch at night so I know you've got the dad dance moves. Your puns are also dad joke worthy. I guess I just wanted to catch up." He laughed at the look on Percy's face as he entered, though he sobered slightly as he watched his friends patching each other up with plasters over smaller cuts and bandages over those that were slightly larger.

"We really need to start rationing ambrosia so we've each had enough to remove the worst of our bins and to accelerate the healing of our other injuries, but a bit of regular care should be enough for the rest." Annabeth informed them as she finished securing a bandage on a cut on Piper's arm.

Jason and Percy came forwards and Frank handed them some ambrosia and began helping them to take care of the minor injuries.

Silence descended as they all worked, though Jason had an inkling that each of them was more than a little preoccupied with thoughts on when the others would be returning.

Nobody wanted to say it, but if they didn't show up soon, they were going to look for them. It was nerve-wracking to just wait.

Frank's P.O.V

Coach Hedge was the first to break the silence. He had been unusually silent this entire time, probably worried about his charges.

"If the other cupcakes don't return soon toting a baby Valdez I get to go and club a Goddess, right?" Frank sighed. He had just finished placing a plaster on Percy's last cut, and was already feeling restless. As the only demigod in the room without ADHD, he couldn't imagine how wound up the others were if even he was feeling jittery. Though, there was an added strain to his tension as he knew without a doubt that if his wood had somehow been damaged, Hazel would have been in trouble, as would Nico and the Leos.

It was no surprise either that Hedge would be ready to fight. The faun… satyr hadn't really been able to do much for the little Leos, what with them constantly leaving him handcuffed to furniture and the others asking him to the guard the boat. He must have been spoiling for a fight, especially as he was particularly fond of the trio who he had originally been tasked with protecting (though Jason had been added into that trio a little later than Piper and Leo), in fact, Frank himself had mentioned that to Fifteen only a short while back.

So much had happened in only two days.

A noise sounded out from the deck, and everyone in the room was on their feet and moving instantly.

Together they all surged onto the deck, weapons ready in case they were disappointed by the noise being a monster attack instead of their friends returning.

Thankfully, it was the others, though Frank almost took that back when he saw the state they were in.

Both Hazel and Nico showed signs of being mildly burnt, though it was relief to say that neither seemed to have incurred anything past first degree. That was were all relief ended.

Nico was hanging tightly onto a sleeping Six. The son of Hades was trembling lightly, a deep, pervading weariness in his eyes as he cradled the bruised and bleeding child whose face was so covered in tear tracks you could probably paint a picture on it. Tears were also welling up in Nico's eyes, though he seemed to be fighting to prevent them.

Hazel and Fourteen made no such gesture. They were clinging to each other on the floor, both bawling their eyes out. Fourteen was gasping out apologies, and Hazel was mouthing the same as she clutched him. The teenage Leo also had a liberal amount of bruises and cuts on his visible skin.

A long minute passed where those who had remained on the Argo stood stock still, staring at the scene of true despair.

All of a sudden, Nico's legs buckled and he slid to the ground, keeping Six pulled in to his chest as he knelt.

Percy and Jason sprang forwards towards him whilst Frank and the girls carefully approached the sobbing duo. Coach Hedge stood between them, twirling his club and glaring hatefully as if waiting for Enyo to appear so he could bludgeon her.

"Hazel? Fourteen?" Piper's soft voice inquired gently. Frank watched as the duo gently disentangled themselves from one another.

Hazel wiped her eyes ineffectively and stood up, refusing to meet anyone's gaze.

"I'm really tired guys, I'm just going to head to bed." She stated breathlessly before sprinting away. Frank's reactions were delayed by shock, his arm raised a moment or two after his girlfriend had already whipped past.

Mind made up to follow her, Frank turned on his heel, but a sudden gasp behind him followed by arms latching on to him froze him in place. He very nearly flipped the person over his shoulder as he was so keyed up and ready for a fight.

Common sense kicked in before he did so, reminding him that most monsters don't attempt to hug you, or cry out apologies, though knowing the crazy world he lived in there probably was a monster like that out there.

"Fourteen?" Frank twisted to try and figure out was going on, but the younger demigod hastily sprang away, like a cat that someone had thrown a piece of bread at.

The latino teen's eyes were wide and bloodshot as he scrutinised Frank.

"Where did I hurt you?"

"Huh" At first Frank wondered how Fourteen could have possibly known about Fifteen's rampage, before it clicked.

"Fourteen…" He trailed off, unsure of where to go with this and mentally begging someone else to step in and help him sort this out.

Because right now, Fourteen looked as if he were about to fizzle out. As if one wrong word would cause all life in him to slip away, leaving him cold and unapproachable like when snow covered the charred remains of a firework.

Yet neither of the girls stepped in. They stood, glancing between the two as they had obviously decided that this was a situation which Frank needed to resolve before either of them could lend aid.

Percy and Jason were talking in low voices to Nico who was subconsciously rubbing Six's back as he wearily replied to the other two sons of the big three.

Inhaling deeply, Frank began mentally compiling things to say, questions to ask. All of that went out of the window as Fourteen began to shake violently after not receiving a response.

In an instant, Fourteen was enveloped in Frank's arms as he threaded a hand gently into the younger teens tangled hair, crouching slightly to maintain direct eye contact.

"Whatever happened out there, I don't blame you. None of us blame you." In his peripheral vision, Frank noticed the girl's step forwards, nodding in agreement.

"You're weren't hurt?" The voice was unsteady and, in that instant, Fourteen sounded even younger than Eight and Six had.

"Not by you." Frank spoke firmly, and he didn't doubt his statement for a second. He, of all people, understood how the power of a war God could warp you into doing things that you never would have thought that you could do.

"You're not going to kick me off the ship?" Frank's heart ached for his friend.

"Never. Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with us." Finally, Fourteen's expression changed from one of guilt and fear. It wasn't quite happy, but it did show signs of relied.

It was then that Fourteen toppled over and Frank instinctively leapt forwards, gazing at Piper and Annabeth for help.

Both girls had teared up, and they walked over and hugged Frank who blushed deeply at the unexpected affection.

They withdrew, and Annabeth immediately put her game face on.

"Right!" She called, drawing all attention to herself, including that of the big three trio.

"We need to get these two treated and then find somewhere for them to sleep." Whilst they had been patching each other up earlier, Jason and Percy had filled them in on their plan of keeping the Leos separate on case of a catastrophic fallout. Everyone had agreed that it was sensible, though Frank had suggested that as the two had fought of Enyo's influence for now, the Goddess might retreat for a bit in order to strategize.

Not exactly a comforting though, but it would mean that they'd be having a temporary reprieve from the Goddess's destructive meddling.

A small chorus of agreements rang out, and Frank cradled Fourteen in his arms as Jason and Percy helped Nico to his feet.

Frank was a little surprised to see Coach Hedge still standing there, staring at them all critically.

"I'll take watch for tonight. All of you need to get yourselves to bed." Amazed at this frank declaration, their eyes all widened.

It seemed to occur to the satyr that he had come across a little too sentimental there as he snorted roughly.

"I've not had a good fight in a while. A lot of monsters prefer to attack at night, and when they do, I'll be ready here to whack'em!" He enthusiastically mimed hitting some monsters which managed to bring a smile to all of their faces.

"Sure Coach." Jason replied, and the demigods made their way below to tend to the injured Leos.

Piper's P.O.V

Piper was pretty certain that she had never cried more for anyone in her life than Leo Valdez. A part of her truly believed that every mythological being out there had taken one look at the boy and decided that he was too much of a positive force and that they must eradicate all happiness from his life.

Fourteen already felt guilty over so many things and now, despite Frank's reassurance that nobody held him responsible for what Enyo's power had made him do, he more than likely believed that he had done some kind of irreparable damage to Frank.

The son of Hephaestus' bad luck never seemed to end, and Piper was terrified that it was going to keep chipping away at her honorary little brother until he could never smile properly again.

Just looking at the differences between these four Leos, as well as the actual modern one, was telling enough. Leo was getting better and better at faking amusement, and eventually he would forget what real happiness was.

Piper refused to let that happen. Enyo, Gaia, no one was allowed to take Leo's smile away. She was the daughter of the Goddess of love, and she loved strongly. She was also pretty certain that all of the others agreed.

Now everyone had been treated, the only issue stopping them all from getting some well-earned rest was figuring out where the Leos should sleep. Leo's room and Jason's room where both occupied.

"He can stay with me." Piper blinked, startled. Nico was hugging six again, dark eyes shining with conviction.

"Err, if you're okay with that…" Percy piped up, also clearly thrown for a loop by Nico's sudden attachment to the youngest Leo. Whatever had happened, it had to have been awful for Nico to be so insistent about being the one to keep an eye on the little child.

In response to Percy's question, Nico swiftly got up from his chair, swaying slightly, before marching wordlessly out of the room.

Concern shone in all of their eyes, but it was unanimously decided by some unspoken vote held between them that these problems were best dealt with tomorrow.

"I suppose Fourteen could take my room," Frank suggested. "It might calm him down if he realises that I trust him enough to let him stay there."

"Where are you and Jason going to sleep if your beds are being used by the Leos?" Annabeth was ever the pragmatist.

"They can stay in my room! It will be like a sleepover except with no sleepover activities except for actual sleeping as I'm about to keel over right now." And there was Percy balancing Annabeth's serious attitude with a playful one.

It was quickly settled that the boys would bring some bedding to camp out on Percy's floor for the night, and with that they all slowly drifted away to their rooms, some leaving quicker than others as the toll of the day affected each of the, differently.

No official schedule was created to check in on the Leos, but there was a tacit understanding that they would look in on them at some point, excluding Six whom Nico could hopefully deal with.

Piper stretched, cracking a few bones before wandering down to her own room. She had been the last demigod left in the room, too deep in thought to even register the murmured goodbyes from the others.

As she settled into bed, she sent a small prayer to her mother (even though the Gods were meant to be maintaining radio silence) asking that tomorrow would be better. That tomorrow the Leos could have some of life's burdens taken off of their shoulders.

She awoke in the early hours of the morning with an uneasy feeling in her gut.

Quietly she got up and crept out of her room and into the hallway. Leo had organised the bedrooms so that they went Annabeth, Piper, Hazel, Percy, Frank, Jason and then his own, with Coach Hedge's creating a divide between boys and girls.*

Hedge himself had insisted on having the rooms split up this way, and Leo had obeyed in fear of getting a club to the head. He'd told her this during one of his rare lunch breaks when working one the Argo, on one of the days where Piper had forced him out of the bunker by his ear in order to get the boy to actually breathe fresh air and eat real people food instead of whatever snack was available.

A pang ran through her. It had only been two days, but she found herself missing her Leo. Sure, Fifteen was friends with her, but he was also fairly sure that their friendship was a fragile little thing born of pity whereas she's eventually managed to convince her Leo of how much she cared about him. Fourteen made her heart hurt almost every time she looked at him, as did Eight in spite of his cuteness. And adorable little Six had just gone through something terrible, the details of which she hadn't been informed of yet.

Her hand grasped the doorknob of Frank's room, and the door swung inwards. Fourteen was curled up in Frank's bed, face devoid of any emotion either pleasant or unpleasant.

But he was still there.

Shuffling forwards, barefoot, Piper reached Jason's door. She repeated her previous motions.

The result was not the same.

Fifteen was not on the bed.

Inhaling to ground herself, Piper tiptoed in further, observing the room. No sign of the younger demigod. Edging forwards, she knocked on the door of Jason's private bathroom. No answer.

She swore viciously and wracked her brain for places where Fifteen was most likely to run to. They were on a freaking boat; he wasn't getting off it.

Inspiration struck her, and she made her way through the boat. It was eerily quiet this morning, with everyone lacking the energy to be up and about after the pressures of the last two days.

This worked to her advantage as she could hear the noise coming from her destination easily, though normally she's have been unable to pick up on it as quickly.

Any damage done to the doors of the gym yesterday had been removed, it was as if nothing had happened.

She threw them open and entered to see Fifteen sitting next to a pile of wood and other building material with a hammer in hand.

"Um, hi?" It was phrased like a question, and shame was painted on his cheeks due to how he had hurt her yesterday, but Piper was relieved to find him free from Enyo's grasp and doing something productive instead of…

Ignoring the mess around her, Piper flung herself at him for a hug.

* * *

So, yeah. I really do apologise, and hope that you all enjoyed this. I didn't even realise quite how much I missed writing it until I was finally able to get time to do it again. See you all soon.


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